Owner-operators sue
over electronic logs
The federal mandate requiring truck drivers to keep track of their hours of service with electronic logging devices is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, according to a lawsuit filed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
The Missouri-based organization challenged the rule in a legal brief filed with the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The association argues that, in addition to violating the amendment concerning unreasonable searches and seizures, the mandate also does not "advance safety, is arbitrary and capricious."
"There is simply no proof that the costs, burdens and privacy infringements associated with this mandate are justified," association Chief Executive Officer Jim Johnston said in a statement.
The rule for the electronic logging devices was finalized late last year and will take effect in December 2017. It is expected to affect 3 million drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The Arkansas Trucking Association has supported electronic logging devices of some form since 1999, believing that the technology improves highway safety and hours of service compliance.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association was successful in challenging a proposed electronic logbook rule in August 2011.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Rain, hail jar fields, delay Delta planting
Hail and record rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday delayed planting and sent farmers in the Arkansas Delta out to assess damage caused by the storms.
About 10 percent of Arkansas' rice acreage has already been planted this year, said Jarrod Hardke, rice specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Most of that acreage received 4 to 7 inches of rain on Wednesday.
"The biggest concern for those fields will be the potential destruction of new levees that wouldn't withstand the intense flooding brought on by the heavy rains," Hardke said.
-- Claire Williams
Half stocks up, index for state gains point
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 1.00 to 331.32 Friday.
Half the stocks gained ground.
Shares of Deltic Timber rose 4.1 percent in heavy trading.
Tyson Foods was up 2.2 percent and hit a 52-week high.
For the week, 13 stocks advanced and five declined.
Deltic Timber had the best week, rising 5.7 percent.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 04/02/2016