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Business
OOIDA not giving up on e-log challenge
GRAIN VALLEY, MISSOURI
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is tak- ing its challenge against the US elec- tronic logging device (ELD) man- date to the Supreme Court.
The organization, which rep- resents small business truckers, appealed a court ruling handed down by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ruled against OOIDA on its lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). OOIDA claims mandating e-logs amounts to warrantless surveil- lance of truckers.
“We were very disappointed and surprised by the ruling against us by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Jim Johnston, pres- ident and CEO of OOIDA. “That same court had ruled in our favor on a previous lawsuit of ours on this same issue.”
OOIDA argues that requiring drivers to use ELDs to record their hours-of-service does not improve highway safety, since they are no more reliable than paper logs. OOIDA is also asking the Supreme Court to determine whether the ELD rule violates Fourth Amend- ment rights, by failing to establish
Truck tonnage slips in March
ATA projects moderate growth going forward
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
US for-hire truck tonnage slipped 1% in March, according to the lat- est data from the American Truck- ing Associations.
Year-over-year, the seasonally- adjusted truck tonnage index rose 0.7%. Year-to-date, compared with the same three months in 2016, the index is up 0.2%. For all of 2016, ton- nage was up 2.5%.
“Like several other economic indicators, March truck tonnage was likely hurt by some late sea- son winter storms,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “Despite last month’s dip, seasonally adjusted tonnage rose 1.2% during the first quarter overall from the previous quarter, and increased 0.2% from the same quarter last year. While I’m not expecting a surge in truck tonnage anytime soon, the signs remain mostly pos- itive for freight, including lower inventory levels, better manu- facturing activity, solid housing starts, and good consumer spend- ing. As a result, we can expect mod- erate growth going forward.” TN
a regulatory structure at the state and federal levels that serves as a substitute for a warrant.
“We believe that the Seventh Cir- cuit erred in allowing warrant- less searches of 3.5 million drivers, designed specifically to uncover evi- dence of criminal activity,” Johnston said. “In doing so, the Seventh Cir- cuit decision splits directly with rul- ings by both the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts. This is also the first time that the pervasively regulated industry exception has been applied directly to the search of an individ- ual to serve the ordinary needs of criminal law enforcement.” TN
June 2017 • Truck News 11