New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared war on truckers.
On Tuesday January 29, Cuomo issued atravel banforbidding all tractor trailers to travel on several major interstates as well as the New York State Thruway due to a severe winter storm.
James Lamb, the president of the nationwide Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) trade group operating through the domainwww.truckers.com and has responded to the Governor by saying:
"While the governor of New York obviously meant well with this ban, he did not realize such a ban and restriction of movement places truckers in precarious situations and strands truckers in dangerous places that jeopardize their personal safety. With the onset of electronic logging devices (ELDs), many truckers find themselves having to shut down on exit and entrance ramps to avoid violations of Federal Hours of Service regulations. Many truckers are not aware of their rights to seek safe harbor. A ban on a driver under threat of arrest unreasonably restricts their right to seek safe harbor and interferes with interstate commerce. Meddling with interstate commerce transcends the authority of the Governor of the state of New York or any state. The state has also not met its responsibility under the Federal Jason's Law truck parking statute to ensure drivers have sufficient safe truck parking available within the state in situations where a ban is in effect.
While the SBTC itself encourages truckers to stay off the roads when road conditions are dangerous, overzealous threats of arrest in lieu of fines from any state governor are an overbearing abuse of authority. Lastly, with truckers not able to defend themselves when visiting New York because of New York's anti gun-laws, the Governor has essentially frozen truckers in their tracks making them sitting ducks in high crime areas of the state. With over 600 workers in interstate transportation murdered over the past decade according to the US Dept. of Labor, we therefore call on Congress to pass Michael's Law that would acknowledge truckers' right to carry firearms throughout the United States to protect themselves and restrict states from regulating truckers who enter, pass through, and exit their state in furtherance of Congress' right to regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution," Lamb said.
"Where does he want them to go, if he is not supplying enough safe truck parking spots in his state?
