A new book by Ms. Levy has highlighted the ‘cost’ of government mandates using technology. Well-meaning bureaucrats decided that truck drivers were driving too long, falling asleep at the wheel, and crashing. The savings were detailed as preventing 1,844 crashes and 26 lives annually. The previously used paper logbooks were deemed too easy to cheat, so a technology solution was implemented in 2019; electronic logging attached to the truck engine.
This is where the Law of Unintended Consequences stepped in, as it often does with government regulation. The issue is that truckers are paid a fixed rate per mile, so they need to drive to make money. Therefore, any time asleep on the side of the road or waiting on warehouse/dock workers (who are not incentivized to work faster) to load/unload is unpaid.
A few of the consequences:
Drivers sped up to make more miles in a day…to make more money. Are faster semi-trucks safer? Some trucking companies have countered by installing speed governors.
Trucking companies co-opted the same Electronic Logs to increase the monitoring of truck drivers - some companies watch weather channels and notify drivers when it is too unsafe for them to drive.
Despite the increased safety regulation, a 2021 study has shown that trucks are better at complying with regulations, but crashes have increased. And…it goes back and forth with more unintended consequences - but we never learn.
Does anyone realize that the industry needs more drivers? Where is the incentive to become one?
Being homeless.