It’s back to the drawing board for the FMCSA’s proposed rule on EOBRs.
On Friday, a federal appeals court vacated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2010 rule requiring repeat hours-of-service-rule violators to use electronic onboard recorders. Saying the proposed rule doesn’t protect truck drivers from potential harassment by employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit remanded the rule to the FMCSA.
This marks a victory for the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association and three truck drivers who had appealed the rule, which had been scheduled to take effect next June.
The court expressed concerns that carriers would be able to use the EOBRs to keep drivers on the road despite fatigue. It noted that the FMCSA provided inadequate detail on how it might prevent such harassment. The court said it had other potential issues with the rule but found the harassment concern compelling enough to draw the brakes.
I hope to see an EOBR rule as soon as possible that helps ensure that drivers follow the hours of service regulations and cannot be used to harass them to violate the hours of service requirement.
