Dive Brief:
- In another effort to defeat a federal rule mandating electronic logging devices (ELDs), the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to rehear the case, despite losing their last appeal in October, The Journal of Commerce reported last week.
- Lawyers for the Association are seeking an en banc hearing, requiring all 12 judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals to hear the case, and rule against the three judges who rejected the previous plea.
- The OOIDA argues electronic logging devices have never proven to be safer than paper logbooks, and violate driver privacy, according to a press release.
Dive Insight:
The OOIDA is not giving up in its battle against ELDs, as it has pledged to bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Owner-Operators doubt the efficacy of ELDs, citing unmanageable costs, high probability of continued tampering and inflexibility as part of their battle against mandatory adoption of the automated record keepers. The association has been battling the rule for decades, and while it won similar challenges at the federal level before, the court's refusal to review an appeal against the rule in October effectively put a nail in the case's coffin.
Unless the judges involved have a complete change of mind, and are willing to review data already deemed sound, the ruling will go forward. For now, as the rule stands and fleet managers review their options, many have begun to apply for exemptions to the final rule for any pre-2000 model trucks. Some would argue, however, exemptions only delay the inevitable mass adoption of the technology.
