Washington D.C. – The widow of a trucker murdered in 2014 is asking United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for help.

In a recently-penned heartfelt letter, Ashley Boeglin, widow of Mike Boeglin, urged Sec. Buttigieg to push Congress to introduce and pass the “Truck Driver Protection Act of 2021,” a.k.a. Boeglin’s Law.

“It is with a heavy heart that I write to ask you to please help me keep Mike’s dream, spirit and memory alive by joining us and publicly expressing your support to members of Congress for them to introduce ‘Boeglin’s Law’ into the United States Senate & House of Representatives this session,” she wrote.

Many in the trucking community know Mike’s tragic story well.

On June 26, 2014, while attempting to deliver to a receiver in Detroit, MI, Mike was refused safe haven and unable to find a safe place to park in the area.

While waiting at the delivery gate to deliver his load the next morning, he was shot five times and then burned in his truck during a suspected robbery.

He was just 29 years old at the time he was murdered.

Ashley has worked with the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) since shortly after Mike’s death on various iterations of legislation with the goal of providing truckers with more tools to lawfully protect themselves.

“For millions of Americans that drive to supply this country, the truck is their home; at least their home-away-from home. Truckers deserve the same right to ‘equal protection of the laws’ as any other American who returns home to a residential building each night and they need this law,” Ashley wrote.

The latest version of Boeglin’s Law would revise Federal Law to:

(1) Encourage shippers and receivers to provide upon request safe harbor to operators of commercial motor vehicles operating in interstate commerce;

(2) Require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to promote and protect the personal safety of operators of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce;

(3) Specifically outlaw violence or threats of violence against operators of commercial motor vehicles;

(4) Enable and require the Secretary of Transportation to preempt state laws whenever the Secretary of Transportation determines that state law conflicts with Federal law that protects and promotes the safety of operators of commercial motor vehicles engaged in interstate commerce; and

(5) Direct the Secretary of Transportation to study and report to Congress on the appropriateness of existing Federal law and regulations insofar as they impact the safety of operators of commercial motor vehicles operating in interstate commerce.

Additionally, Ashley is calling on Congress for “more funding for safe truck parking initiatives” in order to address the worsening nationwide shortage.

Click HERE to read Ashley’s entire letter.