A federal court has granted an extension until Feb. 21 for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to answer a cease-and-desist motion regarding truck electronic onboard recorders.

On Jan. 24, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a Feb. 6 deadline for the FMCSA’s response to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s Jan. 19 motion. The agency sought a 30-day extension to respond and OOIDA countered with a 7-day extension. The court set the extension at 15 days.

Last August, the association successfully appealed the agency’s 2010 recorder rule. That regulation would have required EOBRs for all trucks used by a carrier with a greater than 10 percent rate of noncompliance with hours-of service-regulations in any single compliance review

The court determined that “the rule cannot stand because the agency failed to consider an issue that it was statutorily required to address.” The Truck and Bus Safety and Regulatory Reform Act of 1988 “requires the agency to ensure that any such device is not used to ‘harass vehicle operators.’”

Since that decision, OOIDA has stated agency officials pursued “a policy of encouraging motor carriers to adopt the use of EOBRs without first promulgating regulations ensuring that such devices are not used to harass drivers.”

The association included an October news report to illustrate FMCSA’s policy direction in exhibits submitted to the court.