American Trucking Associations v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
406 U.S. App. D.C. 312
| D.C. Cir. | 2013Background
- FMCSA promulgated multiple Hours of Service (HOS) rules (2003, 2005, 2008) and after litigation and remands issued the 2011 Final Rule with three notable safety additions: a 30-minute off-duty break, a once-per-week (168-hour) limit on the 34-hour restart, and a requirement that a 34-hour restart include two 1:00–5:00 a.m. periods.
- The rulemaking history includes court vacaturs/remands: Public Citizen v. FMCSA (vacating 2003 rule) and OOIDA v. FMCSA (finding procedural defects in 2005 rule), prompting supplemental analyses and further rulemakings.
- Petitioners: American Trucking Associations (ATA) challenged the rule as overly restrictive/costly; Public Citizen and individual drivers (Logan, Ball) challenged it as insufficiently protective of safety.
- Jurisdiction/standing disputes: ATA had associational standing; Public Citizen’s standing rested on driver Dana Logan’s declarations; court found Logan had standing to challenge the 11-hour driving limit but not the 34-hour restart generally because she previously had supported a once-per-week restart.
- On the merits the court applied arbitrary-and-capricious review and largely deferred to FMCSA on technical and scientific matters, vacating only the 30-minute off-duty break as applied to short-haul drivers for lack of adequate explanation.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing of association/individuals | ATA: association represents injured members; Public Citizen: Logan is directly regulated and thus injured by increased allowable hours | FMCSA: must show causation; employer schedules, not rule, compel hours; Logan supported some restart limits earlier | ATA has associational standing; Logan has standing to challenge 11-hour limit but not the 34-hour restart broadly (due to prior supportive comment) |
| 34-hour restart — once-per-week restriction | ATA: arbitrary flip from prior positions; agency inconsistently treated existence of hour-maximizing drivers | FMCSA: changed view based on new evidence/comments showing drivers/carriers use restart to extend hours; adequately explained change | Court upheld the once-per-week restriction as a permissible change with reasoned explanation |
| 34-hour restart — two-night (1–5 a.m.) requirement | ATA: undermines circadian stability and forces rotating schedules; agency previously favored circadian stability | FMCSA: balanced recovery time vs. circadian effects; cited 2010 study favoring two-night restart for fatigue mitigation | Court deferred to agency science and upheld the two-night requirement |
| 11-hour driving allowance (vs. 10-hour) and cost‑benefit | Public Citizen: agency improperly required cost-effectiveness proof and misread statutory charge to prioritize safety/driver health | FMCSA: ran multi-scenario cost/benefit and found no compelling evidence that 10-hour limit had higher net benefits; decision within agency discretion | Court rejected Public Citizen’s legal challenge and deferred to FMCSA’s reasoned cost/benefit analysis; upheld 11-hour limit |
| 30-minute off-duty break as applied to short‑haul drivers | ATA: rulemaking failed as a logical outgrowth re: short-haul; no adequate explanation applying break to short-haul; off‑duty requirement unsupported | FMCSA: NPRM discussed 30-minute break; general rationale applies to all drivers; cited a 2011 study showing off-duty breaks best reduce crash risk | Court found (1) application to short-haul was a logical outgrowth but (2) FMCSA failed to provide an adequate, reasoned explanation for applying the 30-minute off‑duty break to short‑haul drivers and vacated that application; upheld off‑duty vs on‑duty choice based on agency study |
Key Cases Cited
- Am. Wildlands v. Kempthorne, 530 F.3d 991 (D.C. Cir.) (describing deferential arbitrary-and-capricious standard)
- Public Citizen v. FMCSA, 374 F.3d 1209 (D.C. Cir.) (vacating FMCSA HOS rule for failure to ensure driver health)
- Owner-Operator Indep. Drivers Ass’n v. FMCSA, 494 F.3d 188 (D.C. Cir.) (identifying procedural defects in FMCSA methodology)
- Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29 (U.S.) (standard for arbitrary-and-capricious review)
- FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., 556 U.S. 502 (U.S.) (standards for agency change of position)
- Nat’l Envtl. Dev. Ass’n’s Clean Air Project v. EPA, 686 F.3d 803 (D.C. Cir.) (scope of review and deference to agencies)
- NRDC v. EPA, 902 F.2d 962 (D.C. Cir.) (agency may rely on reasonable extrapolations from reliable evidence)
- Nat’l Ass’n of Home Builders v. EPA, 682 F.3d 1032 (D.C. Cir.) (review of agency cost‑benefit analysis)