California Governor Gavin Newsom has been busy this year with deploying new state government bills surrounding truckers and other contract workers in the state. This fall, Newsom signed three bills into law that add more to the state’s hold on the trucking industry, adding more regulatory costs and compliance burdens on companies of all sizes, … Continue reading “Recent Bills Create Trouble for California Truckers”
This past September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law new legislation focused on making things a little more difficult for independent owner-operators, such as truck drivers and gig economy workers, possibly even putting them out of business. The AB-5 legislation originally passed the California State Assembly back in May and was passed by the … Continue reading “AB-5 Signed Into Law: What That Means for Truck Drivers”
In August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a long-awaited proposal for changes to hours of service rules that would help add more flexibility for truck drivers on the road. These hours of service rules, first adopted in 1937, specify the permitted operating hours of commercial truck drivers and have gone through multiple … Continue reading “FMCSA Proposes New Rule to Increase Service Hours Flexibility for Drivers”
In recent years, California has seen a number of regulations change or be created in order to cut down on emissions, greenhouse gases, and traffic while boosting alternative fuels, for example. One industry affected by new rules and regulations is the freight industry, or trucking, which plays a huge role in the state’s economy. Last … Continue reading “Compliance Requirements for California Vehicles”
In California, the trucking industry is in the middle of a legislative upheaval over certain exemptions and tests for truck drivers on the state’s highways. Legislation that could disrupt the owner-operator trucking model in California is headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk to be signed. Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) passed the state senate’s Standing Committee … Continue reading “AB 5 Passes California State Senate Hearing – What Does this Mean?”
Following the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s determination in December of last year that federal law preempts California’s meal and rest break rules, many trucking companies are trying to determine how this is going to affect them with the California courts. Los Angeles Superior Court became the first state court in California to apply the … Continue reading “FMCSA Update: California Yields to Preemption Determination”
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) has recently announced it will be establishing the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, a new database that will include information related to violations of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and its controlled substances and alcohol testing program. Currently, the Clearinghouse rule requires FMCSA-regulated employers, Medical … Continue reading “FMCSA Establishes Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for Commercial Drivers”
Every state has requirements for commercial transportation licensing that helps to keep trucking companies and freight forwarders regulated on the roads. Truckers, public livery, freight forwarders, and others all have some form of governmental licensing requirements, which means that trucking companies are bound to certain guidelines to keep them safe. If a trucking company does … Continue reading “What to Know About the Necessary Commercial Vehicle Licensing Requirements”
In December of 2018, a ruling from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) stated that California trucking companies, while still requiring their employees to take rest breaks, are exempt from providing truck drivers paid rest. The ruling has been controversial to say the least and has already been set up to be challenged in … Continue reading “Will California Require Truck Drivers to Take Unpaid Rest Breaks?”
On January 25, the National Labor Relations Board returned to its long-standing independent-contractor standard, which reaffirms the Board’s adherence to the traditional common-law test. The main rollout from this is that the Board described clearly the significance that entrepreneurial opportunity has in its determination of independent-contractor status. The Obama-era standard decided whether workers are employees … Continue reading “Update: The NLRB Returns to its Independent Contractor Standard”
