Trucking News and Briefs for Friday, 26th June 2024:
DOL funding bill would rollback independent contractor rule
Appropriations for fiscal year 2025 continue Thursday, with the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee passing a bill that sets funding levels for covered agencies for next year.
One of the provisions in the bill would prevent the Department of Labor implementing its Independent Contractor Rule. was finalized, and went into effect this year.
As reported previously, the rule codified six factors for determining whether an individual is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Greg Feary is the president and managing partner at transportation law company Scopelitis. He said that such a test was a “multifactor balancing” test. If more factors lean towards one classification than the other, the test will result in this. This is a very different test from the ABC test, as was seen in California’s AB 5 law . If you fail to meet one of the three criteria, the worker will be classified as an employee.
[ Related to: A new IC rule may have “unintended consequences”]
The six factors of the new DOL rule
Profit or loss depends on the managerial skill
- Both the employee and the employer can invest in the future.
- The degree of permanence of the relationship
- Nature and degree control
- The extent to which the work performed is integral to the business of the potential employer
- Skill and initiative
Members of Congress and members of the trucking industry have been closely scrutinizing this rule. The American Trucking Associations are part of a coalition of groups that is suing DOL for the rule.
“When the U.S. Department of Labor changed a straightforward definition of independent contractors into an opaque and deliberately confused standard, it put the livelihoods of independent trucks nationwide at risk who have spent years, or even decades, building their own small business,” said ATA president & CEO Chris Spear.
Spear said that stopping the implementation of the rule would “respect the wishes of over 350,000 truckers, who select this employment pathway because of the economic opportunities it creates and flexibility it provides.”
The bill will now be sent to the full House Appropriations Committee. The bill must pass through the committee, then the House and Senate before it reaches the President to be signed.
[ Related: Impact of new DOL regulations upon trucking opportunities]
FMCSA renews brake-light exemption for tanker fleet
Groendyke Transport can continue to use an amber brake-activated, pulsating light on the rear of their trailers, in addition to the steady burning brake lamps required by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. This is after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration renewed its exemption.
The FMCSRs require that all exterior lamps be continuously burning, except for turn signal lamps and hazard warning signals, school bus warning lights, amber warning or flashing warning lamp on tow trucks or commercial motor vehicles transporting oversize loads, as well as warning lamps in emergency and service vehicles.
Groendyke was granted an exemption by FMCSA in 2019 for the use of pulsating, amber brake-activated light to increase visibility on its approximately 1,440 tanker trucks hauling hazardous materials.
Groendyke, in applying for the renewal of the five year exemption, reported a significant reduction in rear-end accident since the waiver was granted.
The provisional extension is valid for six months, retroactively to April 26, 2024 through October 26, 2024. FMCSA has said that if no evidence of inadequate safety is presented to the agency, it will grant a full five-year exemption at the expiration of the provisional exemption.
A separate exemption granted to the National Tank Truck Carriers Group in 2020 permits any fleet to install red or amber brake activated pulsating lamps in the upper middle position or upper dual outboard positions on the backs of tanker trailers in addition to steady-burning brake lights required by the FMCSRs.
[ Related to: CCJ innovators: Groendyke reduces rear collisions with unique braking light]
Four fleets receive waivers for Intellistop Brake Light Module
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted waivers to four fleets for the use of Intellistop, which pulses brake lights when the brakes are applied.
Fleets eligible for the waiver include:
- Brent Higgins Trucking Inc. (29 trucks)
- DJS Fundraising (5 trucks)
- JM Bozeman Enterprises (223 trucks)
- Meiborg Brothers Inc. (170 trucks)
Gemini Motor Transport (the fuel transport arm of Love’s Travel Stops) was recently granted an exemption by FMCSA to use the Intellistop Module.
The Intellistop Module pulses the required rear-clearance, identification and brake lamps four times in two second from a lower level lighting intensity to a high-level lighting intensities when the brakes apply and then returns the lights to a constant-burning state as long as the brakes remain engaged.
FMCSA, as previously reported, denied an industry-wide exception to allow all interstate motor carrier to operate CMVs with the Intellistop Module, but encouraged individual fleets apply for a waiver in order to use the module. “Exemptions with a more limited scope would allow FMCSA to ensure compliance with all relevant FMCSA Regulations because the individual exemption would be easily identifiable, and its compliance with applicable regulation could be monitored,” FMCSA stated.
The waivers for all four fleets are valid for five years, until June 28, 2029.
[ Related to The tanker fleet receives a limited exemption for installing pulsating brake lights]
Uber Freight partners up with another autonomous truck manufacturer
The Uber Freight brokerage announced last week that it has partnered with autonomous truck developer Aurora Innovation in order to launch Premier Autonomy. This new program will allow carriers to purchase and board autonomous trucks within the Uber Freight System.
The companies claim that the new program “will enable carriers to improve utilization and business efficiency through autonomous technology.”
Uber Freight is also one of Aurora’s initial customers on its Dallas to Houston freight route. Driverless hauls are expected for shippers by the end of 2024.
Lior Ron is the founder and CEO at Uber Freight. He said: “Uber Freight sees a tremendous opportunity for carriers of any size to democratize autonomous truck technology, enabling them drive more revenue, expand their fleets and strengthen their bottom line.” “Autonomous trucks make moving goods more efficient. This industry-first program helps facilitate and accelerate the use of autonomous trucks by our carriers.”
Aurora is Uber Freight’s second autonomous partnership. In 2022, the company announced that it would be working with Volvo Autonomous Solutions in order to deploy Volvo’s autonomous tech in its network.
Uber Freight and Aurora announced their new Premier Autonomy Program will offer carriers:
- Aurora Driver subscription for autonomous freight hauling
- Access to over 1 billion driverless miles by 2030
- High utilization of autonomous vehicles via a planned and seamless integration of the Aurora Driver in the Uber Freight platform
“With Uber Freight we can provide hundreds carriers Premier Autonomy with autonomous truck capacity they would not otherwise have.” “Working with carriers of all sizes will be one of many ways that we will transform the industry, and see thousands of autonomous trucks on the roads,” said Ossa Fischer, president of Aurora. It’s exciting and validated that companies like Uber Freight reserve our long-term capacities for their customers. We all see value in this offer.”
Uber Freight and Aurora have hauled thousands of pounds of cargo, since pilots began, the companies say, unlocking crucial learnings about how effectively move goods autonomously.
Carriers can sign up for a Premier Autonomy waitlist here.
In a joint press release, the companies warn that there are certain risks and uncertainties which could lead to different outcomes from what is currently expected.