American Trucking Associations responded to Friday's court decision to toss out the electronic on-board recorder rule by reaffirming its support for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and EOBRs.

"Though we are still reviewing the court's decision, ATA supports FMCSA's efforts to mandate the adoption and use of electronic logging devices for hours-of-service compliance," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said in a statement. "We hope FMCSA will work quickly to address the court's decision and the important device design and performance specifications being evaluated by the Administrator's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee."

The rule, scheduled to take effect next June, will require repeat violators of hours-of-service regulation to install EOBRs.

After a challenge from the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the rule and sent it back to the FMCSA. The court said the rule did not do enough to prevent harassment of drivers by carriers. While the law states that is legally required to prevent harassment, it does not give any details on how that will be accomplished.

The agency could study these issues by comparing the experience of drivers in companies that use EOBRs with that of those that don't, the court suggested.

The decision is under review at the agency, said FMCSA Communications Director Candice Tolliver Burns.