The Chartwell Chronicles: Trucking
The Increasing Visibility of Driver Health
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has published regulations overhauling and expanding its regulated employee testing program to include oral fluids drug tests. The new regulations, which update 49 C.F.R. Part 40...more
The vast majority of traffic accidents are minor, with smaller amounts of damages and less serious injuries. However, every once in a while, there is an accident that garners national attention because of its size and/or...more
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued an order this week that Washington State’s meal and rest break rules are preempted as applied to property-carrying commercial...more
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced on March 13, 2020, that, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, exemptions for some regulations were warranted for certain motor...more
The use of CBD (Cannabidiol) products has become very popular throughout the country. In addition, the laws relating to use of hemp plant products are rapidly evolving. As a result, the United States Department of...more
As we have written here, the day before California’s controversial AB 5 was set to go into effect, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the law as to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the State of California from enforcing AB 5 against motor carriers. The court provided a fulsome analysis demonstrating that the Federal...more
The federal court that had granted a temporary restraining order on New Year’s Eve blocking California’s misclassification law from taking effect against the trucking industry just extended that ruling by granting a...more
As we recently wrote here, just hours before California’s controversial AB 5 went into effect, a federal court in San Diego issued a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to enjoin enforcement of the independent contractor...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On the heels of last week’s federal court order temporarily blocking enforcement of AB 5 by the State of California, a California state court in Los Angeles reached the same conclusion, finding the Federal...more
Following the challenges to AB 5, California’s controversial new independent contractor law, can be a difficult endeavor. Every day seems to bring a new development....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2020, AB 5 implements the mandatory “ABC” test for determining whether a person is an independent contractor or employee under California law. Specific to motor carriers, AB 5 presumes...more
Employers of drivers who hold commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) have been subject to U.S. Department of Transportation drug and alcohol testing requirements for over twenty-five years....more
As businesses throughout the State of California continue to grapple with the potential implications of AB5, a new law designed to make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors, the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently rolled out Our Roads, Our Safety, a national safety campaign to raise awareness about sharing the road safely with large trucks and buses....more
Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded, in Dilts v. Penske Logistics, LLC, that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) does not preempt the application of...more