Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/655323
T he most-recent edition of Land Line, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's magazine, reminded me of a key element of the association's challenge to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's previous electronic logs rule, which would have required use for carriers with a certain per- centage of hours of service non- compliance. The rule was vacated by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on grounds that, as OOIDA argued, the FMCSA had failed to consider the harass- ment of drivers as a result of the rule. As we've reported over the years since, FMCSA went to lengths to account for/combat the potential for harassment, including developing the parallel anti-coercion rule, un- veiled in final form just weeks prior to the December 2015 release of the latest ELD rule. As Land Line managing editor Jami Jones wrote in the February edition of the magazine, however, the court's ruling in 2012 vacat- ing the prior limited-mandate e-log rule was a narrow one. Here's what Jones wrote relative to the issue of harassment: The opinion from the court, prepared by Circuit Judge Diane Wood, stated that the court "need address only the first is- sue" of driver harassment. But that "first issue" wasn't the only argument OOIDA made against the rule. The suit also argued that the government requiring e-logs violated the 4th Amendment's protection in the Constitution against unreason- able search and seizure and that, also, FMCSA's "cost-benefit analysis failed to demonstrate the benefits," as Jones wrote. OOIDA's petition for review of the December-released rule (also to the 7th Circuit) hasn't come with any definitive arguments as yet. Spokes- person Norita Taylor, queried earlier today, noted details remain forthcom- ing as the association works through the rule. But if Jones' "FMCSA is in for a fight" story in Land Line is any indication, both the 4th Amendment and the cost-benefit analysis may well be expected to figure in those arguments. A look at the numbers attached to FMCSA's Regulatory Impact Analysis by Todd Dills Industry News www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | 40 ELD mandate: Is drivers' time saved by e-logs worth near $2 billion annually?