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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Sikh driver stage rally in California

 

A group of Sikh truck drivers staged a rally in California this past weekend protesting next month’s electronic logging device mandate going into effect.

The Sikhs PAC, a political action committee representing Sikhs across the U.S., invited the public to attend the rally from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 near the Sikh Temple in Yuba City, Calif. The rally coincided with the 38th annual Sikh Parade, the largest Sikh event outside of India.

The purpose of the rally was to raise awareness of the unfair mandatory rules and regulations that are due to go into effect nationwide Dec. 18, according to a news release issued by Sikhs PAC on Friday.

“The large trucking companies have been using the ELD for many years to track the proficiency of their drivers but this device was never meant to serve as a safety monitor,” Sikhs PAC Chairman Gurinder Singh Khalsa said in the release.

Last month, thousands of Sikh drivers participated in protests in Washington, D.C., and along the West Coast as part of multiple grassroots campaigns by truck drivers who are asking Congress and the White House to intervene and delay the mandate.

Later in October, the Sikhs PAC announced a partnership with Forrest Lucas, founder of Corona, Calif.-based Lucas Oil Products Inc., to express concerns over the ELD mandate. Sikhs PAC estimates there are over 150,000 Sikh truckers in America, the vast majority of whom are small business owner-operator truckers.