Washington D.C. – The newly launched petition asking President Trump to “immediately suspend” the controversial electronic logging devices (ELD) mandate is gaining steam and on pace to collect the 100,000 signatures needed.

On Friday, October 25, James Lamb, president of the 15,000-member Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC), created a petition on WhiteHouse.gov urging President Trump to “direct the USDOT to act on NHTSA findings and immediately suspend ELDs until unintended consequences can be studied to decide if the rule is ripe for repeal.”

Since doing so, nearly 10,000 people have signed it (as of this writing) and that number is expected to grow much higher in the coming days.

In his first interview since launching the petition, Lamb tells Transportation Nation Network (TNN), “When 10,000 people immediately go out of their way over the weekend to sign a petition, you know you’re dealing with an issue that must be addressed.”

According to the White House, if the petition garners at least 100,000 signatures in 30 days from the time it is created, an official written response will be sent by email within 60 days to each person who signed it.

The terms of the petition say,

The White House will ensure that petitions that cross the signature threshold make their way to the right policy folks across the government (whether they’re in a White House office like the Domestic Policy Council or at a federal department or agency).

Anyone 13 years of age or older can create or sign a petition on WhiteHouse.gov.

To read and sign the petition, click HERE.

The launching of this new effort is yet another action in response to troubling traffic fatality data released last Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The alarming NHTSA report, which the petition references, revealed a total of 885 large truck occupants perished in crashes last year.

That number marks the most since 1988 when 911 people died.

“Faced with their own October 2019 statistics that now show the ELD mandate and rule was bad public policy, the U.S. Government has no choice but to study the unintended consequences of ELDs and press the pause button until they can assess the damage they have cause,” Lamb asserted to TNN.

RECENTLY RELATED

Petition Launched Asking President Trump to “Immediately Suspend” ELD Mandate

Efforts to End ELD Mandate Intensify as Trucker Crash Deaths Reach 30-Year High

Mega Carrier Safety Group Renews Calls for ELDs, Speed Limiters and MORE

Who Is Winning Battle Over Bill To Mandate Speed Limiters?

Trucking Groups Make Final Push for More Split Sleeper Berth “Flexibility”

“The FMCSA must face the fact that, although it represented and promised the industry ELDs would ‘help create a safer work environment for drivers,’ nothing could be further from the truth.

The evidence now shows FMCSA was wrong and ELDs are a complete and utter failure, causing more deaths than they have saved.

The onus is on the government to immediately suspend ELDs now before another life is lost.”

Lamb and the SBTC are also asking people in support of an ELD suspension to take to social media and share the petition with the hash tag #SuspendELDsNow.

There is much more to come on this story.

To track the latest developments, be sure to follow TNN on Facebook and Twitter, as well as staying logged on to TransportationNation.com.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER FOR MORE TRUCKING NEWS!