Lawsuit Filed Against ELD Final Rule

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The Owner-Operator Independent Driver’s Association (OOIDA) has filed initial arguments against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) final rule mandating Electronic-Logging Device (ELD) use for all commercial motor vehicles (CMV).

OOIDA argues in its appeal that ELD use does not advance or improve safety, it’s arbitrary and capricious and violates the Fourth Amendment for unlawful searches and seizures. OOIDA filed the legal brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, the same court that in 2011 vacated FMCSA’s prior rule related to electronic logs, a limited mandate for certain noncompliant carriers.

OOIDA led that challenge as well. OOIDA also listed other arguments in the legal brief requesting the court to vacate the rule:

  • That the mandate fails to comply with a congressional statute requiring ELDs to accurately and automatically record changes in drivers’ duty status. ELDs can only track vehicle movement and must rely on drivers to manually input changes in duty status, making the devices “no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording hours of service compliance,” OOIDA says.
  • That the current mandate continues to fail to ensure that ELDs will not be used to harass drivers — FMCSA’s own failure to provide for this requirement of existing law was the reason the 7th Circuit vacated the prior e-logs rule in 2011. FMCSA responded to such requirements by in part developing the parallel Driver Coercion rule and opening up new whistleblower architecture for driver complaints, and penalties for violating carriers.