OOIDA Slams U.S. ELD Mandate, Files Lawsuit

GRAIN VALLEY, MO – Just mere days after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration unveiled regulations that will take effect in two years requiring most U.S. truckers to use electronic logging devices (ELD) the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has filed a lawsuit to stop the requirement.

“This rule has the potential to have the single largest, most negative impact on the industry than anything else done by FMCSA,” said Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and CEO. “We intend to fight it with everything we have available.”

FMCSA announced the final rule last week that mandates the use of electronic logbooks for all interstate commerce in trucks that are model year 2000 and newer. The agency is mandating that truck drivers use ELDs to track their record of duty status and compliance with hours of service (HOS) regulations.

OOIDA has previously challenged a similar mandate in the courts. In August 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit vacated a proposed electronic logbook rule based on the argument of harassment of drivers, sending FMCSA back to the drawing board.

The petition for review that OOIDA has filed this time does not outline the arguments that will be used to challenge the final rule. Arguments will be provided in subsequent filings and during oral arguments in front of the court.

“This regulation is absolutely the most outrageous intrusion into the rights of professional truckers imaginable and will do nothing at all to improve highway safety. In fact, we firmly believe it will do exactly the opposite by placing even more pressure and stress on drivers than they already deal with,” Johnston said.

OOIDA claims to represent the interests of more than 150,000 small-business truckers and professional truck drivers. 


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