As March Madness gets underway, a California federal judge has called a flagrant foul and ejected the trucking industry from its ongoing battle to challenge Assembly Bill No. 5 (“AB5”)....more
3/18/2024
/ ABC Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
Teamsters ,
Trucking Industry ,
Wage and Hour
Beginning January 1, 2024, California intrastate motor carriers and drivers will be required to use an electronic logging device (“ELD”) as generally required by the federal ELD regulations adopted under 49 CFR § 395, Subpart...more
Providers and commercial users of transportation services necessarily rely upon the predictability and uniformity afforded by national laws and regulations to support the efficient and reliable supply chains that are so...more
Federal regulators—as well as the marketplace itself—have been scrutinizing the role of certain types of “transportation intermediaries” in the industry. One point of focus has been the role of longstanding models such as...more
Unfortunately, today, June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a deeply disappointing loss to the transportation industry and supply chain interests throughout the country by declining to review the California Trucking...more
6/30/2022
/ ABC Test ,
B2B Organizations ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motor Carriers ,
Preemption ,
Supply Chain ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry
The transportation and logistics industry has been widely anticipating a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court as to whether or not it will accept for review two very significant cases involving the scope of the Federal...more
6/27/2022
/ ABC Test ,
Brokers ,
Common Carriers ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Freight Forwarding ,
Independent Contractors ,
Logistics ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry
On April 28, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the application of California’s Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) to motor carriers is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration...more
The early days of the Biden Administration have given commercial users and providers of transportation and logistics services a lot to consider. In the first week of his presidency alone, President Biden signed 22 executive...more
2/24/2021
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Distribution Centers ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Logistics ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retailers ,
SCAQMD ,
State and Local Government ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry ,
Warehouses
The international forwarding community was not immune from headlines, advisories, and rulemaking dealing with U.S. export controls and economic sanctions in 2020 despite never-ending attention due the global COVID-19...more
In November 2020, a California state appeals court ruled in People of the State of California v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County and Cal Cartage Transportation Express, LLC that the Federal Aviation Administration...more
12/14/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trucking Industry
While the transportation and logistics world has naturally been occupied with rapidly developing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 crisis, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has delivered a...more
Both the speed of business disruption and depth of uncertainty created by COVID-19 have been unparalleled in our experience. Developments over the past week alone have emerged at an exponential rate and have impacted every...more
3/20/2020
/ Boycotts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Emergency Response ,
Misclassification ,
State of Emergency ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Secrets ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trucking Industry ,
TSA
On January 16, 2020, finding that “California runs off the road and into the preemption ditch,” Judge Roger Benitez of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California issued his decision granting a...more
1/17/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Borello Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Owner-Operators ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trucking Industry ,
Wage and Hour
Yesterday, on January 13, 2020, Judge Benitez of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California extended the temporary restraining order previously entered in the litigation brought by the California...more
1/14/2020
/ Business Model ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motor Carriers ,
Owner-Operators ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Time Extensions ,
Transportation Industry ,
TRO ,
Trucking Industry
Champagne bottles popped earlier than expected on New Year’s Eve when Judge Roger T. Benitez of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the...more
1/2/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commerce Clause ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motor Carriers ,
Preemption ,
Transportation Industry ,
TRO ,
Trucking Industry
The Ohio Trucking Association successfully led and won the fight to enact House Bill 62 (the “Bill”) in an effort to assist its members in standardizing the administrative processes that burden motor carriers using...more
On January 15, 2019, in a very disappointing decision for the trucking industry regarding the application of arbitration provisions in motor carrier-independent contractor service agreements, the U.S. Supreme Court...more
Technology has increasingly served a critical—and sometimes transformational—role for providers and commercial users of transportation and logistics services. Automation, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, mobile...more
Many outside of over-the-road motor carriers are taking notice of the looming Electronic Logging Device Mandate (ELD Mandate). We are seeing raised hands with many questions and some confusion at this very moment from a wide...more
12/11/2017
/ Blockchain ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FMCSA ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Open Source Software ,
Smart Contracts ,
Trucking Industry ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
In May 2016, the Department of Labor released its long-awaited Final Rule on changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Final Rule—which will take effect in three months—will impact transportation employers...more
Introduction: Carmack Boundaries and the Blurring of Unloading Functions -
Under the Carmack Amendment, a carrier is liable for the actual loss of goods which “arrive” damaged 49 U.S.C. §4706(a)(1). But when does that...more
Shippers who are used to doing business with motor carriers often present freight brokers with a shipper-carrier agreement (often described as a “Motor Carrier Agreement”) of one kind or another to serve as the basis of a...more
8/27/2015
/ Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FedEx ,
Freight Forwarding ,
Independent Contractors ,
Maritime Transport ,
Motor Carrier Act ,
Motor Carriers ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Trucking Industry ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waterborne Freight Transportation
Shippers who are used to doing business with motor carriers often present freight brokers with a shipper-carrier agreement (often described as a “Motor Carrier Agreement”) of one kind or another to serve as the basis of a...more
8/5/2015
/ Brokers ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Admiralty Law ,
FedEx ,
Freight Forwarding ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Trucking Industry
Federal and state law have long established that a shipper cannot prevail in a freight claim against a carrier if an “Act of God” caused the freight damage, loss, or delay in question. This “Act of God” defense is available...more