ATA Says It Expects to File Court Brief in Support of Electronic Log Mandate

American Trucking Associations said it expects to file a court brief in support of the electronic logging mandate, after a legal challenge from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

The final rule, announced earlier the month and formally published in the Dec. 17 Federal Register, calls for nearly all trucks to have e-logs installed to ensure hours-of-service compliance in two years.

On Dec. 11, OOIDA filed a petition for review with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to vacate the final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

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



The same court vacated a proposed ELD rule in 2011 after OOIDA had argued that it harassed drivers.

FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne said as a matter of policy, the agency does not comment on litigation.

ATA said it is confident the court will side with FMCSA this time.

“We will explain not only why this is a lawful regulation, but why it’s important for motor carriers and for the motoring public in terms of safety,” said ATA Deputy General Counsel Rich Pianka. “We’ll hopefully help FMCSA make the case that this rule should not be disturbed by the courts.

“It makes it more straightforward for drivers to comply with the hours-of-service regulations,” Pianka said. “It makes tracking of hours easier and less subject to gamesmanship. FMCSA went to great lengths to make sure that these devices won’t be used to harass drivers, which was something that Congress required them to do. That’s sort of at the core of what OOIDA has been complaining about all along. We’re confident that the rulemaking more than adequately addressed those issues.”

However, OOIDA’s Johnston also blasted FMCSA on privacy rights.

“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,” Johnston said. “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.”

ATA Executive Vice President Dave Osiecki said his organization believes that the ELD rule is a winner.

“ELDs are a proven technology from the perspective of better compliance as well as safety,” Osiecki said. “When fleets figure out how to use them for better planning, they actually get more efficient. ELDs improve compliance, improve safety and improve efficiency. And the cost has come way down and will continue to come down, given the economies of scale that are about to happen. What’s not to like?”

Osiecki said he has not fielded complaints from companies about the ELD rule. In fact, he said that he was getting questions wondering why it was taking so long to be announced.

“Everybody we’ve talked to is cheering this ruling,” Osiecki said. “They wanted the two-year window to start. Some fleets have already adopted [ELDs] voluntarily. They know they work, and they want the rest of the industry in better compliance.”

This is not the first time that OOIDA has taken on FMCSA in court. In recent years, OOIDA has sued over HOS requirements, the pre-employment screening process and driver inspection reports, among other issues.