Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/678459
10 commercial carrier journal | may 2016 JOURNAL NEWS OOIDA files suit challenging ELD mandate T he Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association last month filed initial arguments in its challenge to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's electronic logging device mandate Final Rule, arguing that requiring electronic monitor- ing devices on commercial vehicles does not advance safety, is arbitrary and capricious and violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable 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. "The agency provided no proof of their claims that [the current ELD mandate] would improve highway safety," said Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and chief executive officer. "They didn't even attempt to compare the safety records of truck- ing companies that use ELDs and those that do not." An FMCSA spokesman declined to comment on the court proceed- ings, but in the text of the ELD Final Rule issued last December, the agency outlined its approach to evaluating the safety benefits of the use of ELDs for hours-of-service compliance. FMCSA says that it used its "peer-reviewed Roadside Intervention Model" to estimate crash reductions among carriers using ELDs. "ELDs bring about improvements in safety by making it difficult for driv- ers and carriers to falsify drivers' duty status, which in turn deters violations of the HOS (hours-of-service) rules," the agency says. "Increased compliance with the HOS rules will reduce the risks of fatigue-related crashes attribut- able, in whole or in part, to patterns of violations of the HOS rules." The American Trucking Associations is a proponent of the rule, touting ELDs as beneficial to both highway safety and carrier oper- ations. OOIDA, however, remains unconvinced, arguing that FMCSA's attempt to compel installation of ELDs without a warrant is an uncon- stitutional seizure. – Todd Dills IRS proposes changes to excise taxes on trucks T he Internal Revenue Service is proposing changes relating to excise taxes on the sale of trucks and more. The agency's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking contains regulations relating to excise taxes on the sale of highway tractors, trailers, trucks and tires; the use of highway vehicles on the highway; and the defi- nition of highway vehicle related to these taxes. The IRS says the updates will reflect changes to IRS code set since 1982, address recent court decisions and remove obsolete regulations. The pro- posed regulations define a highway vehicle as "any self-propelled vehicle, or any truck trailer or semitrailer, designed to perform a function of transporting a load over public highways." The proposed changes also provide a model for a seller to establish the tax status of an incomplete chassis cab. If the buyer of an incomplete chassis cab certifies to the seller that they won't complete the chassis as a taxable tractor, no tax will be imposed on the sale when accompanied by a qualifying certificate. The IRS is seeking comments on the proposed rulemaking, which can be found at Regulations.gov by searching Docket No. IRS-2016-0013. – Matt Cole OOIDA argues that FMCSA's attempt to compel installation of ELDs without a warrant is an unconstitutional seizure.