Posts tagged trucking industry
Trucking industry reacts to Trump administration move to protect independent contractors
September 5, 2025 // According to the ATA, for more than 90 years, independent contractors have played a vital role in trucking, providing flexibility for drivers and capacity for the supply chain. More than 350,000 professional truck drivers choose to run their own businesses, set their own hours, and chart their own routes.
Op-ed: I had to leave California to save my business. Now there’s hope
August 12, 2025 // Running my truck as a small business allowed me to take long hauls across the country — sometimes bringing my children along — while keeping the flexibility and control that mattered most for my family’s well‑being. And I took pride in serving as a role model: showing that women can thrive behind the wheel, own their business and contribute to America’s supply chain. Thanks to leaders like Rep. Kiley, Washington is finally recognizing that independent contractors deserve the same respect and freedom as traditional employees. I hope the Senate moves quickly to pass this bill and send it to the president’s desk.
What was the impact of AB5 on California’s marginalized communities?
March 31, 2025 // Esther Hermida, a representative of the American Alliance of Professional Translators and Interpreters (AAPTI) testified about AB5’s impact on thousands of citizens in her industry comprised of 75 percent women. One professional translator, Ildiko Santana, reported she started her small business in 2000 as an immigrant and woman of color. She lost all 50 clients and all her income in 2020 when AB5 went into effect.
Teamsters’ President O’Brien Shares ‘Inside Baseball’ Into NLRB and PRO Act Machinations in Washington “The PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn.”
March 6, 2025 // When Williamson goes after Trump for “destroying” the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by firing Gwynne Wilcox, O’Brien explains the “inside baseball” being played inside Washington, explaining to Williamson how the “PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn” (by Democrats). O’Brien then explains how the Teamsters are working with Democrats and Republicans to enact a “version” of the PRO Act and how his union avoids using the NLRB.
‘We Are Hopeful’ Q&A with Patrice Onwuka and Kim Kavin
January 24, 2025 // Congress should consider enshrining the Trump-era definition for independent contractors, and/or consider ways to get ahead of the opposition to flexible work. The Employee Rights Act was a federal bill that, among many pro-worker provisions, sought to protect independent contractors as a counter to a national ABC Test in the now-defunct Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Portable benefits also provide a pathway for companies to provide independent contractors with workplace benefits without triggering a reclassification.
Yellow Found Liable for $6.5 Billion in Pension Claims
September 20, 2024 // Earlier this month, Goldblatt ruled that Teamsters president Sean O'Brien could be deposed regarding the leadup to Yellow's bankruptcy, which could be a factor in whether the estate must pay up the class-action claims. According to Yellow, letters and conversations between O'Brien and former Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins show that the trucking company had a reasonable basis to believe it could prove that the company is not liable for the WARN Act claims. The Teamsters represented 22,000 of Yellow's roughly 30,000 employees when the company went under, with both parties blaming the other for the logistics firm's demise.
End of an era: California Trucking Association dropping appeal against AB5
August 23, 2024 // The high-water mark of CTA’s fight came on New Year’s Eve 2019 when Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California handed down an injunction blocking AB5’s enforcement against trucking in the state. But from that point, the CTA suffered a series of losses. An appellate court in a 2-1 decision overturned the injunction in April 2021. The CTA took the appeal to the Supreme Court, which denied review in June 2022 and kicked the case back to the District Court.
Groups lose latest court attempt to block California’s AB5 from state’s trucking sector
March 20, 2024 // “Remedying complexities and perceived deficiencies in AB5 are the kind of work better left to the soap box and the ballot box than to the jury box,” Benitez wrote in his decision. “If sufficient political or economic pressure can be brought to bear by [CTA and OOIDA] and their supporters, the more onerous provisions of the statute can be amended. The courts, on the other hand, are not the proper bodies for imposing legislative amendments.”
Further appeals to block AB5 from California trucking seen as a long shot
March 19, 2024 // Appeals are possible of the decision Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California that emphatically rejected all the arguments by the California Trucking Association (CTA) and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. But several observers of the legal battle that has gone on for more than four years said that may prove too big a challenge to proceed. “I’m sure that some will advocate for the appeal and exhausting all efforts, but I’m certainly not bullish on the likelihood of success in the 9th Circuit,” an attorney who is not representing any of the parties and requested anonymity said of possible future CTA/OOIDA action. “It is time to ‘move on’ absent the political will to change.”
Trucking Companies Seek to Delay Contractor Rule Effective Date
March 9, 2024 //