The New York State Department of Transportation joined the vast majority of states that adopted a federal rule mandating truckers to install electronic logging devices (ELDs) in 2019. But the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association forced the Empire State to tap the brakes by filing a lawsuit against the ELD rule.
Nearly four years later, the case has made its way through the New York court system, with the trucking association on the losing side of the rulings. The New York Supreme Court recently heard an appeal by the truck driver group that argues the measures violates their constitutional right to privacy.
The basis of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association’s claim is that the tracking devices constitute a warrantless search. They indicate where a trucker is located in real time and could be misused by law enforcement. This, in effect, creates a warrantless search in their view. The group also argues the federal mandate adopted by upwards of 40 states did not follow proper procedural requirements when it was crafted.
After a lower court dismissed the trucking association’s claim, the high court appeared divided during recent oral arguments.
“With a highly regulated industry, should your clients expect this to happen,” Judge Shirley Troutman asked the plaintiffs during oral arguments.
“The state can’t condition your participation in employment by waiving your constitutional rights. Yes, participation in a pervasively regulated industry does perhaps decrease your expectation of privacy, but it doesn’t wipe it away,” the trucking association’s attorney, Charles Stinson, reportedly countered. “Any privacy information you don’t have to give up to the government is a win. The regulations, they always tend to towards digging into truckers’ lives more and more, so any time the truckers can get a win on that side is a win.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration cites accident statistics to support new truck transportation regulations. The agency partially attributes nearly 800 fatalities and 20,000 average annual injuries to fatigued driving.
Skeptics of the ELD rules indicate the federal government is using technology to track trucker movement because officials believe physical logbooks are too easily manipulated. Legal experts and freight transportation insiders anticipate the New York Supreme Court will rule in favor of the government.
Source: https://www.courthousenews.com/ny-high-court-looks-inclined-to-advance-trucker-safety-rule/
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