Court Rejects EOBR Ruling

By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor
August 2011
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A federal appeals court Friday tossed out the electronic onboard recorder rule, saying it does not do enough to prevent harassment of drivers.

In response to a petition by several independent drivers and the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the rule and sent it back to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for review.

The rule, scheduled to take effect next June, will require habitual violators of the hours of service rules to install EOBRs. Some 5,700 interstate carriers are likely to be affected, the agency has estimated. This rule is the precursor to a much broader mandate that will cover practically all carriers, probably several years from now.

The panel of three judges found that the agency did not provide enough detail on how it intends to prevent carriers from harassing drivers through these devices.

The agency does say in the rule that it is legally required to prevent harassment, but does not go into detail on how that will be accomplished.


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American Truckers will subsidize Mexican Truckers with their fuel tax...

Congressman criticizes trucking plan

By Jill Dunn

A congressional critic of the previous cross-border trucking program with Mexico has demanded the U.S. Department of Transportation justify the planned program.

Rep. Peter DeFazio sent U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk a copy of his March 10 letter to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. The Oregon Democrat asked LaHood to qualify how the plans will comply with federal pilot program rules and cross-border trucking appropriations provisions.

DeFazio also asked what provided the DOT with the authority to utilize the Highway Trust Fund for paying for electronic on-board recorders with global positioning system capabilities it would require for Mexican participating carriers.

Mexican cabinet officials have said once the DOT grants program participants operating authority, the agency can only revoke it for carriers that have breeched road safety, even if Congress votes again to end the program.

Pilot program regulations require the DOT to immediately revoke participation of carriers or drivers not meeting program conditions. The department would not be able to enforce this if Mexican carrier participants have permanent authority after passing a compliance review after 18 months, he said.

“Granting permanent authority to carriers on a rolling basis, and then granting blanket authority to all participants at the 18-month mark, would seem to exceed your authority under the law,” DeFazio wrote.

E Track strap for truckers and haulers $16.69

“Further, carriers who participated in the pilot program DOT launched in 2007 will get credit for the number of months they operated in the U.S. when they re-apply under this new program. This means that some carriers will receive permanent authority almost immediately,” he added.

Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget request allocates $4.3 million from the Highway Trust Fund to implement the program, some of which will be used to buy and install EOBRs for Mexican carriers and pay for monitoring. DeFazio said the agency spent $1.25 million on EOBRs for 27 carriers in the previous pilot program, which the participants kept when Congress ended it in March 2009.

“It is outrageous that U.S. truckers, through the fuel tax, will subsidize the cost of doing business for these Mexican carriers,” he wrote...

To read the full article in all its terrifying truth click HERE

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