This is how this article starts out -

Electronic logs touted as safety solution
Mile for mile, they have fewer accidents than cars. When a car and truck collide in serious accidents, it’s usually the car driver’s fault.

Okay, then why the big push for electronic recorders in trucks? FMCSA tried to push Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs) back in 2000. The main reason that made the most sense why they didn’t enforce installation back then is still true today, there is no standard for a black box. In order for enforcement to be able to download the data, everyone needs to have the same kind of hardware interface and have the same kind of data format. As far as I know, there still isn’t any kind of standard being set.

Playing the Odds

The odds of getting stopped and inspected are slim. Even if a weigh station is open, very few trucks are checked for anything except for weight on the scales. Unless they come up with a way to transmit the truck logs to the weigh station ahead of time, even if you’re in violation you still may not get caught.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says electronic logs are no more accurate than paper, and that the technology would invade drivers’ privacy. The group also says the accident rate at a large company that uses electronic logging exceeds that of several peers.

We all know who that company is. They were the first test project to install electronic driver logs, a long time ago. Which goes to show you, logs and fatigue have nothing to do with each other.

The article goes on with a bunch of numbers relating fatigue’s contribution to a large number of accidents.

I know it’s redundant, but it’s in the article twice so, I’m putting it here twice for emphasis -

In fatal and injury collisions involving a car and a large truck, car drivers usually are at fault, a federal study released last year found. And the fatal-crash rate for large trucks - deadly accidents per mile - has fallen significantly in recent decades. Industry representatives cite that as evidence of a strong safety record.

There’s more to trucking than driving a truck

Electronic logs or EOBR’s or whatever they come up with will not cure fatigued driving. It’s not how much you drive, it’s how much you work is the problem. Depending on the type of freight there is a lot of work or in the best case, a lot of waiting. A lot of waiting, does not mean you’re able to get a lot of sleep. It’s up to the carriers to demand shippers treat their drivers with respect when it comes to loading and unloading and wait times.