Appeal on ELDs won’t be reviewed by U.S. Supreme Court

by Truck News

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) will not be reviewed.

The OOIDA contends that a mandate to electronically track commercial truck drivers was never about safety and that the government was never able to demonstrate how such a mandate would improve safety.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court does not see the merit in reviewing our case with so many questions about its constitutionality,” said Jim Johnston, president and CEO of OOIDA.

Johnston said that the Association will continue to pursue the issue despite this news. OOIDA had filed the petition seeking a review of a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit regarding the electronic logging device mandate. The court had ruled against the Association last year on its lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

OOIDA says mandating electronic logging devices (ELDs) is the equivalent of warrantless surveillance of truckers and that the government’s weak excuses for doing so fail to justify violating their Fourth Amendment rights.

“That intrusion on the rights of hard-working Americans cannot be justified. The mandate will not improve safety. It will, however, be another costly regulatory burden heaped upon an already over-regulated industry,” said Johnston. “The mandate has everything to do with large, economically motivated entities using the government to impose their will on small businesses which comprise the majority of the trucking industry. Until the government is able to answer many fundamental and basic questions about the mandate, they should at least delay its implementation.”


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  • Perhaps the OOIDA should prove how running for 24 hrs straight, running three log books or forced dispatch behooves the industry. Otherwise they are just sounding like whiny Snowflakes.