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OOIDA urges members to support ‘Jason’s law’ bill for safe truck parking

Family members of slain New York trucker Jason Rivenburg are turning tragedy into triumph in their quest for federal legislation for safe parking options for truckers.

The family’s pleas for safe truck parking prompted one lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-NY, to introduce a bill – HR2156 – titled “Jason’s Law,” on Tuesday, April 28. The bill, which already has eight co-sponsors, seeks $120 million for a six-year pilot program to address truck parking concerns nationwide.

This bill comes after Rivenburg, 35, from Fultonham, NY, was fatally shot March 5 at an abandoned gas station in St. Matthews, SC, for the approximately $7 he had on him. At the time he was hauling milk for OOIDA member Frank VanderVeen of Delanson, NY.

When introducing HR2156, Tonko said, “We need to do more to support these incredibly important men and women.” Rivenburg was from Tonko’s congressional district. Click here to read Tonko’s bill.

“Truckers and family members are demanding that the government do more to protect truckers who risk their lives following rules that require that they pull over and rest after a certain amount of driving time,” Tonko said.

This is a bill the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association strongly supports. OOIDA has also sent a Call to Action to its 160,000 members, urging them to call their lawmakers and make them aware of the “Jason’s Law” bill.

OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said Tonko’s bill is a “good one” that would benefit truckers who struggle daily to find secure truck parking.

“We need to pursue whatever is possible to expand the amount of parking in areas where it’s so desperately needed,” Spencer told Land Line.

Tonko’s HR2156 has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“I ask that my colleagues support the life and memory of a truly hardworking American man and support Jason’s Law, which I am sponsoring,” Tonko said.

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