SBTC Appeals Unreasonable Delay of Publication of ELD Exemption Application to Secretary of Transportation

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- James Lamb, president of the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC), a 501c6 non profit transportation industry trade group, announced today that SBTC has appealed an unreasonable delay in publication of the group's resubmitted application for an exemption from the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) rule in the Federal Register under Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0180 and asked the matter be immediately opened for public comment.

According to Lamb's October 21, 2019 letter to the Secretary, on August 9, 2019, the SBTC resubmitted its exemption application which was previously denied on July 17, 2019 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA,) an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) pursuant to 49 U.S. Code § 31315(b)(3) & 49 CFR 381.317. Lamb argues the law requires the agency to publicly publish and open comments on exemption applications in the Federal Register "upon receipt" and has failed to do so some 10 weeks later, constituting, according to Lamb, an "unreasonable delay" worthy of judicial review.

According to the Federal Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Courts have the power to "compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed."

Lamb advised that no litigation has been filed yet in this instance and he hopes such a filing can be averted.

"Hopefully, the Secretary will now step in at this, the 11th hour, so that we can avoid unnecessary litigation and not be forced by the agency to clog up the courts," Lamb said. "I am sure the courts would very much appreciate that," he added.

Lamb said he has enlisted the help of the Small Business Administration's Ombudsman to move the application process along. "SBA has been extremely helpful as we have navigated our way through the USDOT bureaucracy," Lamb said.

According to the SBTC website, "(t)he SBTC is a network of over 15,000 transportation professionals, associations, and industry suppliers that is on the front lines when it comes to issues that affect transportation professionals operating small businesses. We seek to promote and protect the interests of small businesses in the transportation industry. SBTC encourages ethical business practices and support teamwork, cooperation, transparency, and partnerships among truckers, carriers, brokers, and shippers who seek to do business with the utmost integrity. SBTC is a Florida non-profit corporation with IRS 501(c)(6) exempt status with offices in Washington, DC."

SOURCE Small Business in Transportation Coalition