The American Trucking Association has come out in favor of requiring electronic on-board recorders on some trucks.

The proposed rule, which was recently announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, would require the so-called "black boxes" on the trucks of carriers who are determined by the FMCSA to be frequent violators of hours-of-service rules.

In a press release, ATA president Bill Graves said the proposed rule is "a solid step . toward improved highway safety."

OOIDA has argued that the black boxes won't assure compliance with hours-of-service rules, and that owner-operators who are leased to a targeted carrier could be forced to install a black box even if they're safe drivers.