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Jun 1, 2009 12:00 PM

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) filed a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota State Patrol's arbitrary enforcement program used to declare truck drivers fatigued and place them out of service.

“We consider this program an outrageous abuse of police power and an intolerable violation of the civil and constitutional rights of professional truckers,” said OOIDA President Jim Johnston. “We see no justification for this conduct either scientifically or in rational, legitimate law enforcement.”

The association filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of truck drivers placed out of service and in some cases fined after members of the Minnesota State Patrol arbitrarily arrived at the conclusion the drivers were “fatigued.”

The lawsuit charges that drivers were denied their rights to a hearing on the out-of-service orders and that the regulation under which the orders were issued fails both to define fatigue and to establish a standard under which a driver would know when to stop driving.

OOIDA is seeking an injunction that will stop the fatigue enforcement procedures that results in drivers — who are completely compliant with the federal and Minnesota hours of service regulations — being put out of service for fatigue.

The association is also seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages from the defendants personally.