​Truckers Ask For Rehearing On ELD Lawsuit

January 2017

GRAIN VALLEY, MO… A national association of small-business truckers filed a petition for a rehearing of a court decision regarding their lawsuit against a government mandate to electronically track commercial truck drivers.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says 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.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled against the association in October of this year on a lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In response, OOIDA has now filed a petition asking the full court to hear the case en banc.

OOIDA had previously challenged a similar ELD mandate in the courts and won their case. In August 2011, the court vacated a proposed electronic logbook rule based on the argument of harassment of drivers.

Todd Spencer, executive vice president of OOIDA, said that this petition for review points out other court decisions that may be in conflict with the court’s decision to uphold the ELD mandate.

“In our previous case on this issue, the court stated in its final opinion that our arguments regarding privacy would make for a thorough law exam. This time, we have again raised several issues that should be considered more broadly and we hope to have a full review by the court,” said Spencer.

FMCSA had announced the final rule in December 2015 that mandates the use of electronic logbooks for all interstate commerce in trucks that are model year 2000 and newer. The federal mandate that is scheduled to go into effect in December 2017.

Commercial truck drivers are restricted to a limited number of working and driving hours under current regulations. The FMCSA’s mandate requires that truck drivers use ELDs to track their driving and non-driving activities even though such devices can only track movement and location of a vehicle. OOIDA contends that requiring electronic monitoring devices on commercial vehicles does not advance safety since they are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours of service regulations.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the only national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 150,000 members nationwide. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the Greater Kansas City, Mo., area.