Trucking exec crackdown fails to address incentives behind illegal operations

President Donald Trump's administration is touting a crackdown on fraudulent commercial driver's license schools and unsafe truck drivers, but a Rockford trucking executive says federal officials are addressing the symptoms of a much larger problem. "We're addressing the symptoms of the problem, but we're not addressing the problem," Zach Meiborg, owner and CEO of Meiborg Companies, told The Center Square. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced Operation Highway Shield, a federal enforcement effort targeting unsafe commercial drivers, fraudulent credentials and other alleged violations in the trucking industry. The White House highlighted a related crackdown on fraudulent CDL schools, saying more than 100 schools had allowed non-English speakers to operate commercial trucks and that the Trump administration's interagency effort would prosecute fraud and shut down unsafe operations. Meiborg said removing individual drivers from service does not necessarily stop the companies he says are exploiting the system. "Any time the DOT says they put a driver out of service, what that means is they're handing a driver a piece of paper that says you can't operate this vehicle, and then the enforcement officer, usually state police, drives off," Meiborg said. "That driver then drives off." Meiborg said many out-of-service orders involve English-language proficiency requirements, but argued enforcement actions against individual drivers fail to address the companies behind the alleged violations. "Just because they put the driver out of service doesn't mean they pulled the driver or the truck off the road or addressed the real problem," Meiborg said. According to federal transportation officials, Operation Highway Shield is part of a broader effort involving the Department of Transportation and Homeland Security to identify unsafe commercial drivers and fraudulent activity in the trucking industry. The administration has also targeted schools accused of improperly certifying commercial drivers. Meiborg said those efforts are worthwhile but come too late if regulators do not address the economic incentives that he argues encourage companies to violate federal trucking rules. "When they say they shut down 100 CDL mill schools, great, but you're only addressing the problem after the problem's already occurred," he said. "The problem is that there's a massive incentive to cheat." Meiborg said the trucking industry is constrained by federal hours-of-service regulations that limit the amount of time drivers can remain on duty. He argues a key part of that framework dates back to the Transportation Act of 1935 and no longer reflects the realities of modern trucking. "The core of the problem is we have a 91-year-old rule," Meiborg said. He said compliant companies are limited in how productively they can operate trucks while companies willing to falsify electronic logs can keep drivers on the road longer and move freight at lower prices. "We're in a decreasing-cost industry, so the more you run, the more your cost per mile comes down," Meiborg said. "These operators operate about a dollar per mile less than what a compliant company operates just because they simply run more miles." Meiborg alleged that some companies recruit unqualified drivers, falsify electronic logbooks and exceed federally permitted driving and working hours. "If you're going to have rules, you need to enforce the rules," Meiborg said. "But our federal government and the state government, in particular the state enforcement agencies and the state police, have failed to enforce this rule, which has caused a big incentive for people to cheat." He argued that the answer is not necessarily more regulation but modernizing existing regulations. "The problem exists because we have outdated regulations being enforced by modern technology, which has caused a massive incentive to cheat," Meiborg said. Meiborg is advocating for a simplified system that would allow drivers to work under a "14 hours on, 10 hours off" framework. "I'm not saying by any means we should get rid of the federal mandated rest break," he said. "I'm just saying we need more simplicity around hours of service." Meiborg said the change would allow compliant trucking companies to compete more effectively while preserving mandatory rest periods. "We need to have the common sense to recognize the problem exists not because of not enough regulation or not enough enforcement, but the problem exists because we have outdated regulations," Meiborg said. He also argued that the current system contributes to the nationwide shortage of truck parking. "If trucks can only operate on the road legally for 8.75 hours per day, we have a lot more trucks demanding parking," Meiborg said. He said modernizing the rules could reduce demand for hundreds of thousands of additional parking spaces without requiring significant new government spending. The federal government has identified truck parking shortages as a national transportation concern and has funded projects intended to expand available spaces. Meiborg said his proposal would address the issue differently by reducing the amount of time trucks are forced off the road. "This would cost nothing to do and would essentially reduce the demand for 400,000 parking spots," Meiborg said. The Rockford executive said federal regulators should continue targeting fraudulent CDL schools and unsafe drivers but should focus more attention on companies repeatedly violating safety regulations. "When these non-compliant companies get into an accident and kill someone, it's a $10 million, $20 million lawsuit, maybe a $100 million lawsuit," Meiborg said. He argued that some companies can simply shut down and reopen under a different registration, avoiding long-term consequences. "The big issue comes from, again, the exploitation of a 91-year-old rule," Meiborg said. "The rule is just outdated." Meiborg said he believes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been receptive to hearing from industry members, but he wants the agency and federal policymakers to move beyond discussion. "FMCSA is doing a good job of community outreach, 100%," Meiborg said. "They are picking up the phone and talking to people and asking their opinion." "What we're lacking is just simply the gumption to actually do something." Meiborg said changes could come through FMCSA rulemaking, the Department of Transportation, executive action or Congress. Until then, he said federal enforcement operations such as Operation Highway Shield may remove some unsafe drivers from the road without eliminating what he considers the underlying incentive for companies to break the rules. "We're addressing the symptoms of the problem," Meiborg said. "But we're not addressing the problem."