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U.S. Court Of Appeals To Hear Case Against FMCSA’s DataQ

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OOIDA today announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia  has ruled agreed to hear OOIDA’s case against DataQ. According to an OOIDA press release, the Court of Appeals gave OOIDA the go-ahead to file a “federal district court challenge to the refusal of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to delete from its database references to state safety enforcement actions against truckers.”

OOIDA filed the lawsuit on behalf of a member who received a citation by a Montana Department of Transportation officer for failing to stop at a weigh station.

The driver appealed the citation and the charge was later dismissed by a Montana court. Despite the charge being dismissed, the FMCSA denied the driver’s request to have the information removed fro the the DataQ federal database.

“Today’s decision removes uncertainty in the court system and gives drivers a clear path toward vindicating their rights,” said Jim Johnston, president and CEO of OOIDA.

“OOIDA’s position is that truck drivers are entitled to challenge FMCSA’s administration of the DataQs program in federal district court. A similar challenge filed by OOIDA has been pending in federal district court on behalf of four other OOIDA members. However, the Department of Justice said that the case was filed in the wrong court and that only a federal appellate court could hear the drivers’ challenges,” OOIDA said in a press release.

OOIDA then filed the member’s case with the federal appeals court, asking the court to rule on the jurisdictional issue and to transfer the case to the district court.  The federal district court will consider the request pending the outcome of the appeal.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the largest national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 150,000 members nationwide. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the Greater Kansas City, Mo., area.

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