Supreme Court asked to review decision narrowing Commerce Clause and expanding Market Participant exception. Lower court decision leaves no constitutional limit on the highway tolls a state could impose on vehicles moving in interstate commerce. Petition for certiorari can be found here, Seventh Circuit decision here. Amicus briefs in support of this petition are due by […]
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Truckers Ask Federal Appeals Court to Rehear its Decision that the Constitution Does Not Limit the Amount of Highway Tolls a State Can Impose on Interstate Commerce
On March 9, 2021, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that the Constitution does not limit the amount of highway tolls a state can impose on trucks operating in interstate commerce. The opinion in case no. 20-1445, authored by Circuit Judge […]
OOIDA Explains to Supreme Court How False Reporting Hurts Truckers’ Reputations and Employability
On March 10, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. (OOIDA) filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, outlining the damage caused to truckers by inaccurate and misleading reporting, emphasizing the importance of being able to hold consumer reporting agencies liable for inaccurate employment histories […]
FMCSA to Host Listening Session on Broker Transparency Regulation
From 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT on Wednesday, October 28, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will host a public listening session concerning the pending broker transparency rulemaking petitions. These petitions propose to modify the federal regulations requiring brokers to disclose certain information to carriers, including the amount the shippers paid a broker to […]
The California Supreme Court Provides New Guidance on How AB 5 Could Impact Independent Owner-Operator Truck Drivers Based Throughout the Nation
The California Supreme Court recently issued two decisions that shed light on the question of whether AB 5 would be imposed on owner-operator truck drivers who spend a majority of their time outside of California.[1] These decisions may influence the pending legal challenge to the application of AB 5 to the trucking industry. The […]
Fourteen States Join California in a Commitment to Phasing Out Diesel Trucks
The California Air Resource Board (“CARB”) recently adopted a new rule requiring truck manufacturers to transition from diesel to electric zero-emission trucks starting in 2024. The ultimate objective of CARB’s Advanced Clear Trucks (“ACT”) regulation is to eliminate all diesel trucks by 2045 (this blog’s more detailed discussion of the ACT regulation can be […]
Congress Considering Raising Minimum Motor Carrier Public Liability Insurance to $2 Million
An already challenging economic environment for truckers may worsen with a proposal in Congress to increase minimum public liability insurance limits to $2 million. In mid-June, Representative Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL-04) introduced a proposal in Congress that require commercial motor vehicles to be insured against liability at a level of $2 million—266% higher than […]
Judge Gives the Green Light to Constitutional Challenge to Rhode Island’s Truck-Tolling Scheme
Earlier this month, a federal judge allowed a legal challenge to Rhode Island’s exorbitant truck-only tolls to proceed. The court rejected Rhode Island officials’ latest arguments that their discriminatory toll scheme is immune from a constitutional challenge—the same defense that Pennsylvania officials relied upon in defending its excessive Turnpike tolls last year. This decision and […]
Will California’s New Zero-Emission Truck Rule Zero-Out Owner-Operator Opportunities?
Last week the California Air Resource Board (“CARB”) adopted what it has heralded as a “first-in-the-world” rule requiring truck manufacturers to transition from diesel to electric zero-emission trucks starting in 2024. CARB anticipates that by 2030, nearly one in three new tractor-trailers in California will have zero emissions. This is likely the first of […]
Big Brother and the License Plate Data Holding Company: Your Constitutional Right to Privacy on the Open Road
Since the beginning of this year, the Tennessee legislature has been considering a bill that would bring law enforcement surveillance cameras, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), to the state’s interstate highways.[1] They would not, however, be used for traffic enforcement.[2] Instead, these cameras would be used to further big data policing strategies, which have […]