In 2016, it’s surprising that commercial truck drivers are still allowed to log their driving hours using pen and paper. But it was not until last month that federal regulators began requiring electronic driving records for truckers.

It has long been clear that overly fatigued truck drivers pose a serious safety risk. To combat this, federal regulation limits the number of hours in a row truckers can spend behind the wheel, and caps their weekly hours. Semi-truck drivers are also responsible for tracking their work hours. But drivers have been allowed to use paper records, the same system that has been used since 1938 -- 78 years ago.

Obviously, such logs can be changed, or two sets of logs can be kept, in order to exceed driving limits. In announcing the new rule in January, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Fox said that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was bringing recording keeping “into the modern age.”

According to KTVI-TV, the rule requires trucks to be equipped with devices that According to automatically record how long the vehicle has been on the road, based on how long the engine has been on, changing location and other factors.

Opposition has come from the trucking industry, but for a surprising reason. Small trucking companies and solo operators tried to block the rule, saying that their customers would be able to monitor their driving activity and pressure drivers who stop to rest before they have reached their limit. A group representing owner-operator truckers has sued, calling the electronic monitors “unproven” and “no more effective than paper logs.”

Sleepy truck drivers pose a major hazard to everyone around them. Companies who allow their drivers to doze off behind the wheel and cause a major wreck should be held responsible for the consequences.