Posts tagged trucking industry
Commentary: Julie Su again headed toward DOL confirmation, trucking still opposed
February 28, 2024 // "No matter how many times she’s renominated, Julie Su’s record remains a huge red flag for our industry and any senator concerned about radical policies from California becoming federal law," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. "The independent contractor rule she just finalized as acting secretary undermines the livelihoods of 350,000 professional truck drivers across our country who choose to run their own small businesses, and she needs to answer for it."
OOIDA lends support in case against AB5
January 30, 2024 // The two trucking groups argue that the law eliminates the independent contractor driver business model in the trucking industry and that it violates the U.S. and California constitutions. OOIDA, which is serving as an intervenor in a case against the state’s worker classification law, told the court in its Oct. 27 reply brief that AB5 needlessly causes genuine independent contractors to be reclassified as employees. “AB5 discriminates against and imposes undue burdens on interstate commerce in violation of the dormant Commerce Clause, and the disparate treatment of AB5’s business-to-business and construction exemptions violates the U.S. and California constitutions’ equal protection clauses,” OOIDA wrote
NY state senator introduces bill requiring driver in autonomous trucks
January 16, 2024 // Sen. Pete Harckham, a Democrat from South Salem in Westchester County, and leaders from Teamsters Local 456 announced new legislation that will require drivers to accompany trucks with autonomous operating technology traveling on roadways in New York. The announcement was made earlier this month at a special press conference at the headquarters of Teamsters Local 456. Joining Harckham and Louis A. Picani, president and principal officer of Teamsters Local 456, for the announcement were a number of other Teamsters officials, as well as Rachel Estroff, chief-of-staff for State Sen. Shelley B. Mayer, a co-sponsor of the new autonomous operating bill (S.7758).
Lawyers will square off on California trucking’s latest AB5 exemption request
November 12, 2023 // AB5 is a state law that seeks to define independent contractors through the ABC test. For trucking, the B prong in the ABC test is a particular burden, as it defines an independent contractor as one who “performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business.” A trucking company hiring an independent owner-operator to move freight could be challenged under the B prong. The various participants in the case have filed briefs in recent weeks laying out their arguments that will be reiterated in court Monday. The last year has seen revised complaints from CTA and OOIDA, widening the scope of their arguments. Those revisions and the state responses have provided extensive documentation on the positions each side is taking in the case, which is formally known as CTA v. Bonta, after Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general. (The original defendant in the case was then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, now the Biden administration’s secretary of Health and Human Services.)
NLRB joint-employer rule triggers fears of higher trucking costs
October 26, 2023 // In comments filed with the NLRB’s proposed rule last year, the American Trucking Associations was particularly concerned with including workplace safety and health as one of the determining conditions for a joint-employer relationship, given that many motor carriers have contractual provisions with other motor carriers that require compliance with federal health and safety standards. “This will, of course, necessitate a wholesale review of those contracts due to the accompanying risk associated with being deemed the employer of another’s employees — especially when there is no or limited ability to control those employees,” ATA stated.
Trucking giant Yellow shuts down: The 99-year-old company which has almost 30,000 staff and 12,000 big-rigs ceases operations immediately
July 31, 2023 // Yellow is saddled with some $1.5 billion in debt as of late March, including $729.2 million owed to the federal government for a controversial pandemic-era loan the Treasury Department extended on national security grounds in 2020. A June 2023 congressional report concluded the Treasury Department dodged its own policies to issue the loan and the previous administration had made a mistake in doing so. In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
Industries Raise Alarm over Aging Workforces
June 28, 2023 // The construction industry is suffering labor pains similar to those of the trucking industry. "We've got a lot more people retiring than coming into the industry. We appreciate that that's not unique to construction," said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), a trade group for the construction industry.
U.S. freight railroads prepare for potential strike disruption
September 13, 2022 // A railroad work stoppage would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day in output and require 467,000 long-haul trucks daily to handle shipments diverted from rail - exceeding supply, the railroad association said. Chris Spear