Court Rules Harbor Truckers Are Independents

[HardTimeTrucker]

www.joc.com

Court Rules Harbor Truckers Are Independents

Ruling against Calif. in civil case shores up ATA position
A Los Angeles Superior Court decision this week confirmed that motor carriers are correct in classifying harbor truck drivers as independent contractors rather than direct employees.

Although the case was not initiated as a defense of federal preemption powers involving harbor trucking under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, the American Trucking Associations views the decision as supporting its efforts to prevent the Port of Los Angeles from requiring the use of employee drivers under its clean-truck plan.

Thursday's ruling by Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White involves a civil action filed by Calif. Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown against Pac Anchor Transportation. The attorney general charged that the motor carrier had improperly classified drivers as independent contractors.

The Teamsters union and other labor organizations that seek to organize harbor truck drivers have attempted for years to get the courts and federal agencies to classify owner-operator drivers as company employees. Unions, by law, can not organize independent contractors, but they can attempt to organize companies with direct employees.

Judge White found that the attorney general's actions threatened to erect entry controls that would discourage independent contractor drivers from working in the harbor.

The ATA, in its challenge last year to the Port of Los Angeles clean-truck plan, cited the FAAAA as prohibiting state and local entities from actions that regulate the rates, routes and services of motor carriers. A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles this summer issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the port from enforcing a provision in its clean-truck plan requiring that motor carriers hire drivers as direct employees.

Curtis Whalen, executive director of the ATA's Intermodal Conference, said Judge White's ruling this week confirms that the FAAAA is a strong and comprehensive law when it is applied to harbor trucking.

Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at [e-mail].

[slowpoke]

i wouldrather be ruled an independent contractor then lose my truck to a stupid teamster push to ban us from operating at the ports

[waverlyhillbilly]

Jerry Brown is a class act. This guy was a nut while serving as California Governor. CA is another world to it self with weird ideas. Maybe this group of tree huggers will self destruct before coming here with their LA clean truck nonsense?

[radar]

another story on this subject.



Port Trucker in Los Angeles Wins Hotly Contested Court Battle Against California Attorney General Jerry Brown Over Misclassification of Drivers

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - September 24, 2009) - Trucking companies in the Port of Los Angeles won a resounding court victory this week against the ongoing efforts of the State of California, and Attorney General Jerry Brown, to force them to stop using independent contractor drivers to dray containers in California's ports and to use employee drivers instead.

In a civil action filed in Superior Court by the attorney general against Pac Anchor Transportation, Inc. and truck owner Alfredo Barajas, Case No. BC 397600, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White held that a federal law, which protects motor carriers from state regulation, preempts claims against motor carriers brought under California's Unfair Competition Law ("UCL").

The federal law, part of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act ("FAAAA"), prohibits states from enacting and enforcing laws that are "related to" motor carrier prices, routes, or services in order to maximize competitive forces in the trucking industry. Judge White agreed with the "very strong" argument advanced by attorneys Neil S. Lerner, Arun Dayalan, and Arthur A. Severance of the Sands Lerner law firm that claims against motor carriers under the UCL are preempted per se under the FAAAA.

Judge White held that the attorney general's case, which was based on the allegation that the defendants had improperly classified drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, would have a significant effect on motor carrier prices, routes, and services and was therefore preempted under the FAAAA. Judge White found that the attorney general's actions threatened to erect entry controls that would discourage independent contractor drivers from participating in the trucking market, thereby frustrating Congress' intent to maximize competitive forces in the trucking industry.

This ruling is the second blow this year to the continuous efforts of the State of California, and its political subdivisions, and to the ongoing efforts of the Teamsters, to force California's port trucking companies to switch from an independent contractor driver business model to an employee driver business model. The message from the courts is now very clear: the state should stop meddling in the port trucking industry.