Court rejects OOIDA’s rehearing request against ELDs

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit denied the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s rehearing request against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mandate to electronically track commercial truck drivers.    The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) said Thursday its petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit for a rehearing of its case against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) mandate to electronically track commercial truck drivers has been denied.
   In October, a three-judge panel on the appeals court ruled against OOIDA’s lawsuit against the FMCSA. OOIDA had filed the lawsuit because it claimed the electronic logging device (ELD) rule violated drivers’ rights to privacy under the Fourth Amendment.
   “The government’s excuses for mandating electronic logging devices (ELDs) are weak and fail to justify violating the Fourth Amendment rights of professional truck drivers,” the OOIDA said.
   Under current regulations, commercial truck drivers are restricted to a limited number of working and driving hours. The FMCSA’s mandate requires truck drivers use ELDs to track their driving and non-driving activities. The devices automatically record driving time, engine hours, vehicle movement, miles driven and location information, but the OOIDA contends that requiring ELDs on commercial vehicles does not advance the safety, since they are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours-of-service regulations.
   The FMCSA rule, which was mandated by Congress in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act of 2012 and finalized in December 2015, requires ELDs to be installed on all interstate commercial motor vehicles with a model year of 2000 and newer. “All motor carriers and drivers subject to the requirements in the ELD rule must begin using an ELD or ‘grandfathered AOBRD’ on December 18, 2017, the compliance date of the ELD rule,” the FMCSA said.
   OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston said the association is preparing for the next phase of the challenge with an appeal to the Supreme Court, but will also continue to pursue the issue on the congressional side.