OOIDA states its case against the mandatory use of ELDs
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — A US mandate requiring the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) does not advance safety, is arbitrary and capricious and violates fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
That was the argument behind the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s (OOIDA) appeal of the mandate, issued via a legal brief with the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
“The agency provided no proof of their claims that this mandate would improve highway safety. They didn’t even attempt to compare the safety records of trucking companies that use ELDs and those that do not,” said Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and CEO. “There is simply no proof that the costs, burdens and privacy infringements associated with this mandate are justified.”
“For most truckers, a truck is not just a vehicle but is also an office and a home away from home,” Johnston continued. “This mandate means monitoring the movement and activities of real people for law enforcement purposes and is an outrageous intrusion of the privacy of professional truckers.”
OOIDA gave other reasons to vacate the rule. It argued the mandate fails to comply with a congressional statute requiring ELDs to accurately and automatically record changes in drivers’ duty status. And OOIDA also said ELDs can only track vehicle movement and must rely on drivers to manually input changes in duty status; therefore, OOIDA contends the mandated devices are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording hours-of-service compliance.
OOIDA also argued that the Supreme Court has previously found that prolonged use of a warrantless GPS tracking device on a vehicle is considered a search within the meaning of the fourth amendment. Thus, says OOIDA, FMCSA’s attempt to compel installation of ELDs without a warrant is an unconstitutional seizure.
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this is all true I run a small oilfield company with about 12 trucks these trucks are on locations 90% of the time. My drivers work in the field and do very little driving they use paper logs to keep there records of duty status. this is working out great . Im afraid when we switch over it will be confuseing to the truck computer and the driver on how they will change there duty.i hope this rule change back to paper logs….. DON’T FIX WHAT AN’T BROKEN
They are talking about driver shortage, wait till this ELD mandate goes into effect, many drivers are planning on exiting the industry. Many business owners plan to quit too. If something works, they have to mess it up with rules and more rules. 2018 will be a bad year as they will really look for drivers. The veteran drivers will not put up with this, and many will retire.
If the industry has a problem attracting new drivers to a career in driving now, just wait till you try to chain those of us who been accustomed to some freedom in setting our schedules to a 6’x 8′ cabin for 10 hours straight every day. To every executive in this business I recommend that you work hard to get more flexibility in the off duty portion of the 24 hour cycle. Failure will result in a significant exodus of very productive drivers from working in the most challenging area to recruit for, US northeast. The starting point is to press regulators to allow for split off duty times in a way that resembles how people live. There is nothing in the current regulations that rewards a driver from taking a sleep time between midnight and 4 am. Isn’t there a lot of evidence that they should? Nobody else in any industry that I know of is mandated to stay within walking distance their “hard to find a good place to park” vehicle for 10 hours straight. Give your collective heads a shake.
There is absolutely no evidence that ELD’s will improve highway safety. As a driver for over 36 years, I feel this mandate to use the ELD’s will only hamper the situation, not improve it. If used, there will be a parking shortage even worse than we have now. Fright will be late for its destination due to drivers having to stop for their 10 hour break before their 11 hours of drive time runs out in order to find a place to park. As I see it, it would only help the manufactures of the ELD’s, the companies who monitor them, and the D.O.T. . How much more do they think we are going to take, before we retaliate in some way?
How about the government mandate a pay raise for the driver’s. The freight rates have not increased in 40 year’s. If the the driver’s got paid for sitting at the dock, sitting in traffic maybe they wouldn’t push for extra miles to make up for time lost sitting. We should get paid the minute we pull in to get loaded and unloaded. We have to give the ship-rec 2 free hours of our time before we start charging them. 2 hour times 5 to 8 times a week plus time sitting in traffic, waiting to fuel truck ect adds up to hundreds of loss revenue for the driver’s. If we have to sit in the truck away from home sleeping or for the 34 hour mandate we should get paid also. We sit in the truck sometime days waiting on a load with no pay. Truck stops rip us off with high prices, driver’s are getting shot and robbed daily because of the driver’s having to park in unsafe places but the government never looks into real world issues. If you take all the hours spent in the truck the driver’s make well below minimum wage for a job that requires testing, license and extensive back ground checks. It is a high stressed and very dangerous job. The government pushes for higher wages for fast food workers but never helps the driver’s. Most of the driver’s on “eld” are bringing home 600.00 a week while living out of a truck that cost them 100.00 plus to eat on the road. And that’s eating once a day with a snack. A otr driver should average at least 1100.00 a week min to justify what we do and that’s still minimum wage for the hours we put in. And to install a system to monitor and cameras to watch the driver’s every move is a freedom grabbing intrusion of the government and is something that a communist country like china would do. The government has made it illegal for us to run the truck in places like California and New York even when it’s blazing hot or freezing cold. They tell us to get a room. How can you get a room while you are sitting at a dock and if you leave your truck unattended it will be towed or broken into. Who is going to pay for the room? With what little the driver’s make we can’t afford it. The government mandated these DEF trucks for clean air but we still can’t run the trucks to stay cool or warm. How can we sleep 8 hours in a hot or cold truck and not get paid for it? I have been driving for 18 year’s and I was a Owner operator for 13 of it. I am now looking into other fields of work because I have had it with government bullying, the abuse of the dot and shippers for a minimum wage job.
Thank U Driver !!!! Let’s put the Government on a minimum wage, see what they come up with… LOL..
The cost of the ELDs is a burden in it’s self. At this time it will cost $1000.00 for the equipment and $100.00 a month. Small business owners can not afford this. Many of my customers are starting to prepare to go out of business or purchasing older trucks. They do not want to become company drivers; they are going to refuse to do the ELDs.
The study said it would save 26 lives; how about getting out there and stopping cars for driving 90 miles an hour. They are passing vehicles in no passing zones. Pulling out in front of any vehicles.
The DOT and police officer would rather stop a truck because it is easier than stopping 10 cars. The fines are higher. Which is wrong.
Think of how many lives they would save by just stopping speeders.