By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter This story appears in the Sept. 6 print edition of Transport Topics.
American Trucking Associations asked a federal appeals court to reject the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s request to put on hold a lawsuit that would require the agency to publish rules stating what evidence fleets must retain to verify their drivers’ logbooks.
In a brief filed on Aug. 27 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ATA said FMCSA’s request was unreasonable because the agency has failed repeatedly to live up to its obligations to issue this rule.
ATA said the lawsuit should be allowed to go forward, but even if it does not advance, the court still should “require FMCSA to submit a reasonable schedule for the issuance of a supporting documents final rule.”
In its brief, ATA also said FMCSA is asking the court to accept its promise to finish the rule, “assuming other priorities do not push the supporting documents regulations off the agency’s to-do list.”
ATA filed its lawsuit in January. In August, the agency told the court it had begun work on the supporting documents rule before ATA sued and should publish it by the end of the year.
The trucking federation argued that if FMCSA “was willing to act in good faith, it should have no problem in providing this court a reasonable deadline.”
“Instead, FMCSA obfuscates, betraying its continuing intention to treat the supporting documents regulations as a low-priority annoyance,” ATA said.
The rule is expected to include an expanded mandate for electronic onboard recorders.
Calls to FMCSA were not returned by press time.
