A United States Supreme Court ruling could force 70 000 truck owner-operators off the roads in California. The Supreme Court has decided to deny a judicial review of a decision of a lower court, a process known as certiorari.
The California Trucking Association had asked the court to review a case challenging California’s Assembly Bill 5, reports Supply Chain Brain.
The law sets out three tests to determine whether an employee is entitled to job benefits or is an independent contractor. Essentially, companies will have to reclassify their drivers as employees, rather than allowing them to work as independent contractors, which would destroy the company’s business model, and make drivers susceptible to unionization, reports California Globe.
With few exceptions, the relationship between independent truckers and their carriers, brokers, and shippers will be governed by the tests.
The trucking industry relies on contractors, and has fought to be exempt from state regulations for years due to federal law.
The association said in a statement: “We are disappointed that the court does not recognise the irrevocable damage eliminating independent truckers will have on interstate commerce and communities across the state.” It also noted that “gasoline has been poured on the fire that is our ongoing supply chain crisis”.
