"There's a lot more friendly ways the legislation could ave been written: Work hour cap per week, different classes of CDL/ experience means different caps, etc

"There's a lot more friendly ways the legislation could ave been written: Work hour cap per week, different classes of CDL/ experience means different caps, etc." Only these do not solve the issue. The issue is that working longer shifts puts people's lives in danger. You could legislate in some worker protections for the driver, making it more likely these things do not happen. But they wouldn't make the laws any less necessary.