Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
1 NW OOIDA Drive, Grain Valley, MO  64029
Web site: www.ooida.com

Contact: Norita Taylor, norita_taylor@ooida.com 
Headquarters: (800) 444-5791

(Grain Valley, MO, April 10, 2008) –The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) testified on Thursday before Pennsylvania’s House Transportation Committee and provided input about a senate bill that would impose idling restrictions on large trucks to no more than five minutes per hour.

OOIDA is asking that the bill be changed to place responsibility for violations upon the vehicle owner.  As proposed, the Diesel-Powered Commercial Motor Vehicle Idling Act places responsibility on the operator regardless of whether or not that person owns the truck.

“This is an unfair responsibility to place solely on a person that does not own the truck being driven,” stated Mike Joyce, OOIDA Senior Government Affairs Representative.

Some truck drivers have the advantage of an Alternative Power Unit (APU) that has been installed to heat or cool the occupied cab areas during federally required rest periods.

“But the simple fact is that few motor carrier employers will invest in this technology,” said Joyce.  “An employee driver has no say in the economic decision whether to purchase and install these technologies on company owned equipment.”

The Association contends that a driver or operator must already comply with federal regulations, yet the motor carrier who owns the equipment and makes the financial choice not to invest in anti-idling technology would avoid penalty.

“Pennsylvania law should place accountability where it belongs when enforcing anti-idling restrictions,” added Joyce. “Simply going after the driver will not raise the level of compliance sought - not in Pennsylvania nor in jurisdictions throughout the U.S. with similar laws. We would also rather see uniformity for this nationally, rather than a ‘hodge podge’ of regulations from state to state.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more 159,000 members nationwide, with more than 4,600 members in New Jersey. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, MO, area.