The rapid-fire pace of the actions following OOIDA’s motion seeking a cease-and-desist order on FMCSA’s electronic on-board recorder policies and practices does not appear to be slowing down.

The court initially gave the agency until Feb. 6 to respond. In the latest round of legal filings the Department of Transportation sought a 30-day extension to respond to the cease-and-desist motion.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposed DOT’s request for a 30-day extension and countered with a proposal of a seven-day extension.

OOIDA’s legal counsel Paul Cullen Sr. of The Cullen Law Firm pointed out that nearly five months have passed since the court ruled.

Judge Diane P. Wood wrote the August 2011 decision for the Seventh Circuit that vacated the EOBR regulation because the agency failed to address driver harassment by the devices in the rulemaking process. The harassment argument was one of three arguments presented by OOIDA – and the only one needed for the court to toss the regulation.

The opinion states that if an agency “fails to consider a factor mandated by its organic statute, this omission is alone ‘sufficient to establish an arbitrary-and-capricious decision requiring vacatur of the rule.’”

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