The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has filed a lawsuit seeking a judicial review of the electronic logging device mandate that was announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Dec. 10.

OOIDA pointed out in a Dec. 15 statement on its legal action that “FMCSA is mandating that truck drivers use ELDs to track their record of duty status and compliance with HOS regulations even though such devices can only track movement of a vehicle and approximate location.”

Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and CEO, said the ELD mandate could have the “single largest, most negative impact on the industry than anything else done by FMCSA. “We intend to fight it with everything we have available.”

The association previously challenged a similar mandate in the courts. OOIDA’s current petition for review of the ELD mandate was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on Dec. 11— the day after the mandate was announced.

The appellate court is the same one that, in August 2011, vacated a proposed electronic logbook rule based on the argument of harassment of drivers. 

OOIDA noted that the petition for review it has filed this time does not outline the arguments that will be used to challenge the final rule. Rather, the association said that arguments will be provided in subsequent filings and during oral arguments in front of the court.

“This regulation is absolutely the most outrageous intrusion into the rights of professional truckers imaginable and will do nothing at all to improve highway safety,” Johnston added. “In fact, we firmly believe it will do exactly the opposite by placing even more pressure and stress on drivers than they already deal with.”

Related:Trucking (Mostly) Welcomes Electronic Log Rule