The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says it’s not giving up on its battle against mandatory electronic logging devices, despite its failure to get the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the ELD mandate that goes into effect this December.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that OOIDA's appeal to the high court will not be reviewed.

OOIDA contends that a mandate to electronically track commercial truck drivers was never about safety and that the government was never able to demonstrate how such a mandate would improve safety.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court does not see the merit in reviewing our case with so many questions about its constitutionality,” said Jim Johnston, president and CEO of OOIDA.

Johnston said OOIDA will continue to pursue the issue on the congressional side as part of its “Knock Out Bad Regs” campaign and will continue to communicate with the Trump administration about this and other regulations.

OOIDA had filed the petition seeking a review of a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit regarding the electronic logging device mandate. The court had ruled against the association last year on its lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

OOIDA says mandating electronic logging devices is the equivalent of warrantless surveillance of truckers and that the government’s weak excuses for doing so fail to justify violating drivers’ Fourth Amendment rights.

The association also says there are still many questions about the technical specifications and enforcement aspects of the mandate.

“The mandate has everything to do with large, economically motivated entities using the government to impose their will on small businesses which comprise the majority of the trucking industry. Until the government is able to answer many fundamental and basic questions about the mandate, they should at least delay its implementation,” said Johnston.

OOIDA contends that requiring electronic monitoring devices on commercial vehicles does not advance safety. Because ELDs can only track movement and location of a vehicle and still require driver input to determine on-duty and off-duty status, OOIDA says, they are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours-of-service regulations.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, OOIDA asked the court to determine whether the ELD rule violated the Fourth Amendment by failing to establish a regulatory structure at the state and federal levels that serves as a substitute for a warrant.