It's like on the Railroad Act of 1935 or something.
Law that exempts truck drivers from overtime pay
Section 213(b)(1) of the FLSA provides that overtime requirements do not apply to “any employee with respect to whom the Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours.”
The Motor Carrier Exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Section 13(b)(1) of the FLSA provides an overtime exemption for employees who are within the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to Section 204 of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935,
Read More : The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-255, 49 Stat. 543) gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), a federal government agency, the authority to regulate interstate truck and bus companies, known collectively as “motor carriers.” The ICC’s new powers with respect to motor carriers were similar to those it had over railroads, which it had regulated since 1887. The ICC could decide which companies could become motor carriers, what services they could offer, and what rates they could charge. The constitutionality of the act rests on Congress’s authority to regulate interstate commerce under Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935
An Appellate Court recently upheld a New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development ruling that the state’s version of this exemption applies only to businesses primarily engaged in trucking or moving and storage. What this established is that under the FLSA, when federal and state wage laws are in conflict, employees must be given the benefit of the law that is the most favorable to them. Drivers for the New Jersey trucking company sued for back overtime wages. The company argued that its trucking operation was completely separate from its retail furniture business, and that the states’ trucking industry exemption applied with respect to its transportation and distribution employees. The Court disagreed, ordering the company to pay nearly 500 current and former delivery workers more than $2 million in back overtime wages. Therefore, even though the truck drivers might have been covered by the federal exemption from overtime pay, the narrower New Jersey exemption did not cover them. What this established for drivers is that state laws must be considered when it comes to the Motor Carrier Exemption as cited under the FLSA. Furthermore, I found what could also be another discrepancy.
( Non Exempt Employees) The FLSA, under the United States Department of Labor, there are two ways in which an employee can be covered by the law, meaning they are entitled to receiving overtime pay: ”
Enterprise Coverage and
Individual Coverage
Enterprise coverage pertains to those businesses which have at least two employees and that:
Have an annual dollar volume of sales or business of at least $500,000
Individual Coverage applies to employees whose work regularly involves them in commerce between states. According to the FLSA individual workers are covered under the law who are: “Engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.”
Examples of employees who are involved in interstate commerce include those who:
Produce goods that will be sent out of state
Regularly make telephone calls to persons located in other States
Handle records of interstate transactions
Travel to other States on their jobs and
Do janitorial work in buildings where goods are produced for shipment outside the State.
Furthermore, the U. S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division states that drivers are exempt under the law if:
The employer is shown to have an involvement in interstate commerce, and
The employee could, in the regular course of employment, reasonably have been expected to make an interstate journey or could have worked on the motor vehicle in such a way as to be safety-affecting.
Should these statements have a direct affect on local drivers, presently not receiving overtime pay from their employer? Under the “Safety Affecting Activities” :
“Only drivers, drivers’ helpers, loaders who are responsible for proper loading, and mechanics working directly on motor vehicles that are to be used in transportation of passengers or property in interstate commerce can be exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA under Section 13(b)(1).”
Therefore, if a driver is working as a local driver only, but their company also engages in interstate operations, should he or she should be entitled to overtime compensation?
Are these discrepancies between the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Motor Carrier Exemption and the authority of the Secretary of Transportation?
Are professional truck drivers being deprived of receiving overtime pay? According to the Wage and Hour Division . . .is it possible?
Courtesy of -
Ask the Trucker.com 
