Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/42057
FOR THE RECORD TRUCKING NEWS federal appeals court on Aug. 26 vacated the Federal Motor Car- rier Safety Administration's electron- ic onboard recorder regulation for not addressing how the rule could prevent the devices from being used to harass drivers. Harassment charge A A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded that "the rule can- not stand because the agency failed to consider an issue that it was stat- utorily required to address." The Truck and Bus Safety and Regulatory FYI Trucking jobs dip in August Trucking industry payroll employ- ment dipped by 900 jobs in August, and previously reported increases for June and July dropped by another 900 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Sept. 2. The dip in August was the first since January. However, com- pared to August 2010, trucking employment is up by 40,000, or 3.2 percent. Surface trade rises in june Trade using surface transportation between the United States and Canada and Mexico rose 11 percent in June over a year earlier to $77.5 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. 12 TRUCKERS NEWS OCTOBER 2011 Department of Transportation. The June total was 0.3 percent higher than May. TCA, clinic hold weight-loss contest The Truckload Carriers Association is partnering with Lindora Clinic to create a weight-loss contest aimed at truck drivers and other industry members. TCA will select five fleets Appeals court vacates EOBR regulation on ruling it does not protect drivers MAX HEINE Reform Act of 1988 "requires the agency to ensure that any such de- vice is not used to 'harass vehicle operators.'" The Owner-Operator Indepen- dent Drivers Association appealed FMCSA's April 5, 2010, rule last year. That regulation required EOBRs for all the trucks used by a carrier that has a greater than 10 percent rate of noncompliance with hours of ser- vice regulations in any single com- pliance review. However, existing regulations require EOBRs be used "to monitor safety, not workplace productivity." Any future EOBR rule should con- tain "an adequate explanation that addresses the distinction between productivity and harassment [that] must also describe what precisely it is that will prevent harassment from occurring," the court wrote. The court disposed of the rule on "a narrow basis," referring to the ab- sence of a guard against harassment. It stated OOIDA had presented sev- eral arguments against the rule in February and noted "the briefing raises a litany of issues that would make for a difficult and exhaustive administrative law final exam." An FMCSA official said she is re- viewing the court's decision and that the agency "is committed to raising the bar for commercial truck and bus safety." NEWS BRIEFS to compete beginning Jan. 24. The fleet and individual winners will be announced in May. June NAFTA ATA tonnage slips The American Trucking Associa- tions' advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.3 percent in July from continued on page 87 RANDY GRIDER