A statewide trucking organization and several trucking busineses have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a New York City law regulating truck and bus idling and a program that allows citizens to profit from turning in violators.
The Trucking Association of New York (TANY), together with member carriers Walton Hauling, RDS Delivery Service Co., Inc. (RDS Delivery Service), and Lightning Express Delivery Service, Inc.,recently filed new litigation against the City of New York over the city’s Idling Law and related Citizens Air Complaint Program (CACP). The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, argues that the law and its administration deny motor carriers the due process and equal protection to which they are entitled under the law.
In a statement, TANY said under the Idling law and CACP, the city has effectively deputized citizens to make a profit from deceptive practices, creating a cottage industry which preys on New York’s trucking industry, while shielding city- and state-owned/operated public fleets from equivalent monetary enforcement.
The CACP allows citizens to record video of commercial vehicles idling for over 3 minutes (or 1 minute near schools) and collect 25% of the fine. Fines range from $350 to $2,000.
A CBS Evening News report found the CACP has brought in some $70 million in idling fine revenue. It has paid out to citizen videographers between $`17.5 and $35 million. The New York Post reported one person has earned $895,737 filing videos of idling vehicles.
Additionally, TANY said that once a complaint has been filed, carriers are not given a proper forum to present evidence contesting the alleged violation, leading to recurring fines, growing defense costs, and undue operational burdens. Since the bounty program took effect, idling complaints have surged to more than 124,000 in 2024.
“Our industry has tried to advocate for fair and reasonable changes to this program. Unfortunately, with their unwillingness to provide legitimate avenues for due process and equal protection under the law, the City of New York and the Department of Environmental Protection have forced our hand into filing this lawsuit.” said Kendra Hems, president of the Trucking Association of New York. “As extreme temperatures create unsafe working conditions for drivers across NYC, emboldened bounty hunters are readying their cameras to try and make a dollar off the backs of truckers, all while Mayor Mamdani advocates for employers to take the steps necessary to keep workers safe.”
TANY said the trucking industry moves nearly 90 percent of goods across the city’s five boroughs. The omnipresence of delivery trucks mandates that our industry takes the steps necessary to keep workers safe, a sentiment echoed by the mayor’s recent comments when signing Executive Order No. 17 which requires city agencies to develop heat safety practices. During the signing, Mayor (Zohran) Mamdani said, “No one should have to choose between their paycheck and their health. The workers building our skyline, delivering our packages, selling food on our street corners, and keeping this city running deserve to come home safe at the end of every shift.”
These are words with which the trucking industry agrees, according to the statement from TANY. As such, the lawsuit argues that the DEP subjects privately owned motor carriers to unreasonable adjudicatory burdens and unequal monetary enforcement, which are in violation of the due process and equal protection rights to which motor carriers are entitled.
“As a company specializing in same-day deliveries, speed is of the utmost importance to our operations,” said Larry Zogby, president and owner of RDS Delivery Service and party to the lawsuit. “Our drivers do not idle without reason. If a truck needs to idle, it is likely due to the operation of core functions of the delivery vehicle, such as lowering or raising a lift gate, or keeping cabin temperatures steady during extreme weather.
“Unfortunately, delays between alleged violations and the hearing date oftentimes are more than a year, and in one case totaled 962 days. As such, DEP’s Idling Law and the CACP do not provide us the opportunity to make this evidence clear before doling out a fine at the whims of their bounty hunters. For a number of reasons, we, as motor carriers, have the duty and business incentive to prevent idling.”
Tommy Kharieh, president of Walton Hauling and a party to the lawsuit said, “Sometimes normal operations require idling to maintain the continuity of our business. Unfortunately, due to the city’s unchecked bounty hunter program and lack of administrative due diligence, we often find out about violations once we receive the fine and are classified as repeat offenders. This leaves us without the ability to take remedial action when the moment requires.”
TANY added, it should be said, for motor carriers, unnecessary idling is both wasteful of company resources and potentially damaging to a company’s corporate image. That is why motor carriers in New York City work with their drivers to properly train them to prevent such instances.
However, said TANY, there are legitimate reasons for moments of extended idling. In those moments – idling to keep drivers safe in exactly the conditions the mayor is telling employers to guard against — operators should not have to look over their shoulder for the bounty hunters who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars through this program.
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