Truckers slow traffic on I-44 in southwest Missouri for 'Slow Roll' protest

Truckers on I-44 in southwest Missouri Wednesday protested over-regulation in the trucking industry by driving slow.

The truckers participated in the 'slow roll' from Joplin to Strafford. They rolled out of Joplin around 10 a.m. The six tractor-trailers traveled to Strafford at a speed of 45 miles per hour. The convoy of truckers includes a MoDOT vehicle warning of slow traffic.

The goal is to call attention to a nationwide shutdown planned for the trucking industry the week of April 12. They want changes in their industry, including parking, poor CDL training for new drivers, high fines for drivers if a load is delivered late and unrealistic hours of service required by electronic logging devices.

"We get held up at shippers for four-to-five hours and we'll be sleeping those four-to-five hours," said truck driver Billy Bogar. "And then after that, once the clock runs out, we are wide awake when the computer tells us to be in the bunk. We're wide awake. And then once we have to start our shift, we're dead tired. We don't have an on-off switch."

The group says another 'Slow Roll' is happening in the St Louis area.