Judicial Review

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., et al v. United States Department of Trasnporation, et al

Case No.: 15-3756

Officials: BAUER, KANNE, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Judicial Review

In 2012, Congress directed the Department of Transporta‐ tion to issue regulations to require most interstate commercial motor vehicles to install electronic logging devices (ELDs). ELDs are linked to vehicle engines and automatically record data relevant to the hours of service regulations: whether the engine is running, the time, and the vehicle’s approximate lo‐ cation. The devices are intended to improve drivers’ compli‐ ance with the regulations, to decrease paperwork, and ulti‐ mately to reduce the number of fatigue‐related accidents. Congress instructed the Department in promulgating the rule to consider other factors as well, such as driver privacy and preventing forms of harassment enabled by the ELDs. 49 U.S.C. § 31137. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra‐ tion, which is part of the Department of Transportation, promulgated the final rule requiring ELDs in 2015. Electronic Logging Devices and Hours of Service Supporting Docu‐ ments, 80 Fed. Reg. 78,292 (Dec. 16, 2015) (“Final ELD Rule”), codified in 49 C.F.R. Pts. 385, 386, 390, and 395. Petitioners Mark Elrod, Richard Pingel, and the Owner‐ Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) brought this action for judicial review of the final rule. Elrod and Pin‐ gel are professional truck drivers, and OOIDA is a trade or‐ ganization. They argue that the agency’s final rule should be vacated for five reasons. We uphold the final rule and deny their petition.

Petition Denied

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.