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FMCSA ordered to respond to request for cease and desist on EOBR policies

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has less than two weeks to respond to a cease-and-desist motion filed by OOIDA seeking a stop to the agency’s continued policies and practices regarding electronic on-board recorders.

Judge Diane P. Wood with the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ordered FMCSA to file a response to OOIDA’s motion for a specific mandate directing FMCSA to cease and desist by Feb. 6.

OOIDA filed the motion on Jan. 19, nearly five months after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit tossed the electronic on-board recorder regulation.

The filing was prompted by the agency’s continued promotion of the devices. That encouragement and promotion amounts to “blatant disregard” for the court’s Aug. 26, 2011, decision, according to OOIDA’s court filing.

The motion asks the court to issue a mandate ordering the FMCSA to cease and desist from authorizing, sanctioning or in any way encouraging the use of electronic monitoring devices until the agency has promulgated regulations that ensure that such devices will not be used to harass drivers.

“FMCSA’s conduct directly conflicts with this court’s ruling. Unless restrained by this court, FMCSA’s current policy and practice will deprive petitioners and thousands of commercial vehicle operators of protection from harassment that this court specifically found that they were entitled to,” OOIDA’s motion states.

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