Boxer Battles Bill Measure That "Takes Advantage of Truck Drivers"

by Jana Ritter - Published: 2/26/2016

On Thursday, California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) took the floor to block a measure cited in an aviation reform bill that would pre-empt individual states from imposing their own rules on meal and rest breaks for truck drivers. She termed the language in the bill as “a threat to highway safety and an effort by big trucking firms to take economic advantage of drivers by keeping them behind the wheel for as long as possible.”

                                                                 

The measure had actually passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier this month, but during Thursday’s press conference Boxer said it has no place in any bill put before Congress and that she wrote Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who oversees aviation legislation, and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the committee's ranking member, telling them to block the provision from being included in the Senate's version of legislation. The legislation is part of an overall reauthorization of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. The House measure in question is also known as "Section 611" and would grant federal pre-emption power over what remains of state economic regulations of interstate trucking services. The measure was initially excluded from the December federal transport-spending bill set in response to the 2014 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding California's driver meal and rest time rules as not subject to federal pre-emption. The reasoning for the exception was because California policies did not bind motor carriers to specific rates, routes, and services, and therefore did not interfere with competitive market forces. When the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to hear an appeal of the ruling, advocates of the measure lobbied to include it in the aviation bill.

Not surprisingly, there are many trucking industry groups such as Teamsters, independent owner-operator drivers, and safety groups that also oppose the measure. They say not only does it prevents states from assuring that all drivers get paid for their break times, but also the non-driving part of their jobs such as the time spent loading and unloading their trucks. Boxer also adds that such drivers concerned about not being paid for non-driving time will feel pressured to spend more time behind the wheel and likely run further risk of dangerous, fatigued driving.

However, there are also industry representatives that are in support of the measure such as the ATA, which says the language clarifies the general intent for the industry to operate under one set of federal rules including driver break requirements. “A single set of consistent and fair regulations is essential to the trucking industry,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “Language currently being discussed by Congressional leaders would ensure that drivers operate under a consistent set of break rules, whether that driver is delivering a trailer full of water to Flint, Mich., or picking up a load of avocados in Temecula, California.”

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