I think there should be exceptions made. If a load needs to be somewhere by a certain day or an entire plant will have to work on a saturday, let the driver drive an extra hour once a week.
The rules are in place because owner/operators were driving 40 hrs straight hopped up on speed. Something had to be done, but now we've left no wiggle room and treat these guys like criminals if they work a 12 hr day. I don't know a doctor who doesn't work that many hours. Why do we trust a surgeon to work 16 hrs straight but not somebody just sitting and driving?
I'd hate to be a truck driver today. Not only are they dealing with idiots in cars all day, but you are watched more than just about any other industry. Imagine any other job not allowing overtime, or not letting you drive the last 60 miles home because the law says you have too many hours in this week and have to park for X amount before you can drive again. I'm sure most drivers not equipped with electric logs just break that law and drive another hour to get home. They could get in a lot of trouble for that though, make sense to anyone?