Each house of Congress introduced a bill Thursday that would guarantee overtime pay for employee truck drivers by amending the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which exempted employee truck drivers from the overtime-pay requirements otherwise placed on employers.
Previous versions of the bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, stalled out last Congress, but Thursday's effort represented the most bipartisan support yet, with a single Republican rep joining several Democrats among sponsors and cosponsors.
Groups representing owner-operators and truck safety advocates quickly applauded the bill, but the American Trucking Associations denounced it as "a vote for chaos."
Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Representative Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) introduced the bill in their separate houses.
ATA President Chris Spear called it a "thinly-veiled attempt to boost trial attorneys’ fees" that "would reduce drivers’ paychecks and decimate trucking jobs by upending the pay models that for 85 years have provided family-sustaining wages while growing the U.S. supply chain."
OTR drivers in truckload today "are earning nearly $70,000 on average plus benefits," Spear continued, and "wages across the board continue to rise at historic rates year-over-year." He went on to single out Yellow, which went bankrupt earlier this year amid a labor dispute.
Spear called for money to fix the truck parking shortage, and asserted that the bill "would not affect owner-operators, who, as independent contractors, are not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act."
