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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration continues to be dead set on forcing every commercial vehicle in the United States to carry an electronic onboard recorder — better known as an EOBR — despite the device’s hefty price tag and general uselessness as a safety tool.

American Trucking Associations urged members of the upcoming House-Senate highway-bill conference to include a mandate for electronic onboard recorders, in order to help drivers and carriers meet federal hours-of-service mandates.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Permanent repair kits for defective ATR-6 traction-relay brake valves are moving to truck makers, executives of Bendix Commercial Vehicle System said.

American Trucking Associations has defended the federal government’s moves to encourage the use of electronic onboard recorders among trucking fleets in a brief filed in federal court.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will hear public comments at the Mid-America Trucking Show next month about the potential that drivers using electronic onboard recorders could be harassed by the carriers they drive for.

Class 8 tractors have long been the standard for U.S. for-hire carriers, yet for certain service lines, even the most venerable of heavy-duty fleets are now buying Class 6 and 7 trucks and sometimes even smaller cargo vans.

Officials of brake manufacturer Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems said they are wrestling with the challenge of manufacturing and distributing replacement parts for a defective valve that could cause braking problems, which prompted federal and heavy-duty truck manufacturer recalls.