Final Rules Outline Revocation Authority

The FMCSA has issued a final rule that re-promulgates in the Code of Federal Regulations a statutory requirement that FMCSA revoke the operating authority registration of a for-hire motor carrier for failure to comply with safety fitness requirements; if the Agency determines that a motor carrier is "Unfit" based on its Safety Fitness Determination procedures, the Agency must revoke the carrier's operating authority registration.  Unfit motor carriers are prohibited from operating in interstate commerce, and the Secretary of Transportation is required by statute to revoke their operating authority registration.  This final rule also re-promulgates several technical provisions and makes non-substantive administrative changes.  These changes, initially adopted as part of the April 5, 2010, final rule entitled ``Electronic On-Board Recorders for Hours-of-Service Compliance,'' are necessary because, for reasons unrelated to this final rule, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit invalidated the previous rule.  The rule was invalidated due to the following action.

On June 3, 2010, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., filed a petition in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging the final rule.  The court found that FMCSA's failure to address the issue of harassment through the use of electronic monitoring devices as part of the rulemaking, as required under 49 U.S.C. 31137(a), rendered the rulemaking arbitrary and capricious.  Although the court had focused on a remedial program under the rule that would have required carriers that demonstrated noncompliance with hours of service rules to install and use EOBRs, the court vacated the entire rule.

The court's decision did not affect carriers that voluntarily elect to use EOBRs that satisfy preexisting regulatory requirements to track compliance with Hours of Service regulations.

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