IT WAS NEVER ABOUT SAFETY!

If ELDs Are So Safe, Why Do Livestock Haulers Need an Exemption?
This week, Truck Driver News reported that Congress is once again pushing to exempt a specific group of drivers from federal Hours of Service (HOS) and Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulations – this time under the newly introduced HELP Act (Hauling Exemptions for Livestock Protection Act), spearheaded by Rep. William Hurd of Colorado.

If passed, the bill would permanently exclude livestock haulers – including those transporting insects and aquatic species – from ELD and HOS mandates.  The justification?  That stopping for federally mandated rest breaks can put animals at risk.  The bill is intended to give livestock haulers more flexibility, improve trip planning, and prevent harm to animals during transport.

Let me be clear up front: I am not against livestock haulers.  In fact, I respect them deeply. They’re some of the hardest-working, most dedicated drivers in the business, and they serve a critical role in feeding the nation. This isn’t about them. It’s about the broader system – and the hypocrisy that runs right through the middle of it.

Because if ELDs are truly the gold standard for highway safety – as we’ve been told for years –  then why are so many groups getting exempted?  Are livestock haulers biologically different from other drivers?  Do their sleep cycles not require rest like everyone else?  Or is it time we admit the truth: that the ELD mandate was never really about safety in the first place.

The Lie Exposed by Its Own Exceptions
The HELP Act isn’t the first exemption, and it won’t be the last.  Over the past several years, Congress and the FMCSA have handed out exceptions like candy.  Agricultural haulers have long enjoyed seasonal breaks from HOS.  Oilfield and utility drivers operate under separate rules. Short-haul carriers benefit from the 150-air-mile exemption.  And tech-driven mega-carriers manipulate split-sleeper provisions while dispatchers monitor and direct drivers in real-time, often pushing the limits of legal operation.

Meanwhile, your average long-haul freight driver is expected to obey a rigid digital stopwatch that doesn’t account for parking shortages, inclement weather, shipper delays, or real-world fatigue.  We’re told to shut down when the screen says so – even when we’re wide awake.  And we’re forced to keep driving when the clock says go – even when we’re exhausted.

But now, Congress is acknowledging what most drivers already know: that the ELD mandate and one-size-fits-all HOS rules don’t work in the real world.

Does the Exemption Make the Roads Safer?
Let’s look at the core question: Does this exemption make the public safer?  Does it make drivers more alert?

No, it doesn’t.

Removing ELD and HOS enforcement doesn’t suddenly give livestock haulers superhuman stamina. These men and women still need rest like everyone else.  Exempting them from rest tracking doesn’t reduce fatigue; it simply removes accountability. In fact, it increases the risk of drivers pushing past safe limits in order to meet schedules – not because they want to, but because the job demands it.

Without ELDs, there’s no verifiable record of how much rest a driver is actually getting.  That doesn’t make the road safer – it makes it more dangerous, especially on rural routes with limited resources and slower emergency response times.

If the science behind ELDs and HOS rules is solid – if fatigue management is truly the foundation of safe driving – then no group should be exempt.  Not livestock haulers.  Not ag haulers.  Not oilfield drivers.  Not anyone.  You can’t claim safety is the goal and then allow carve-outs for politically connected industries.  That’s not safety. That’s selective enforcement.

Livestock First, Drivers Last
The exemption is being sold under the banner of animal welfare.  And yes, animals do suffer when forced to sit still in hot trailers.  But where is this same concern when drivers are sitting for hours at a shipper’s dock, burning through their clock?  Where is the urgency when freight drivers are forced to sleep during daylight and drive at night because their ELD said so?

If rigid rules don’t work for livestock haulers, they don’t work for freight haulers either.  If Congress believes some drivers need flexibility for the sake of safety, then that logic must apply across the board.  Otherwise, what we have is a system that values cattle over the lives of professional drivers and the motoring public.

This Was Never About Safety – It Was Always About Control
The ELD mandate was sold to the public as a tool to reduce fatigue and prevent accidents.  But in reality, it became a mechanism of control – used by mega-carriers to monitor drivers minute-by-minute, and by enforcement agencies to penalize drivers for things often outside their control.  It turned a job of judgment, skill, and time management into a numbers game dictated by software.

Now, with the HELP Act, Congress is quietly admitting that the system doesn’t work – at least not for everyone.  But instead of reforming it, they’re just cutting out another exception for those who have enough lobbying power to get attention.

What about the rest of us?  What about the independent freight hauler with 25 years behind the wheel and a spotless safety record?  What about the lease-op running 700 miles a day to make ends meet while dodging traffic, weather, and logbook limits?

We get no exemption.  Just more compliance.

Fix the System – Don’t Patch It for a Few
If this bill is serious about safety, then it should serve as a wake-up call – not just for livestock haulers, but for the entire industry.  We need HOS and fatigue rules that reflect the real world. We need a system that values human judgment over automation.  We need policies that trust professionals instead of treating us all like robots.

You don’t make highways safer by creating loopholes.  You do it by writing rules that respect the complexity of the job – and the human beings doing it.

So no, I’m not against livestock haulers.  I stand with them.  I just want to know why their safety matters more than mine.

Will Cook | A Driver’s Perspective

Reference:
Truck Driver News. HELP Act Would Remove Federal HOS Rules for Livestock Haulers. Published July 28, 2025. Retrieved from Truck Driver News social media post.