GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — A legal challenge of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic on-board recorder (EOBR) regulation has been filed by a group of owner-operators.

According to Landline, the official publication of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, paperwork challenging the impending rule was filed in the United State Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit last week.

The rule will go into effect on June 1, 2012, and will require truckers with a 10-percent or greater HOS violation rate during a single compliance review to install EOBRs on all their vehicles, regardless of the model year, for a two-year period.

While the rule targets "a relatively small handful of bad actors," OOIDA says the agency’s promise to introduce by the end of the year a "broader mandate" encompassing a larger pool of truckers would negatively impact independent operators.

OOIDA says that before FMCSA moves forward with a broader mandate, it must consider the costs, regulatory burden and whether the devices have any "real effectiveness" on highway safety.

"We’re laying down a marker in the court and saying ‘show it, prove it,’ " said OOIDA executive VP Todd Spencer.

The court will set a schedule for briefs and filings for arguments.