Go to the US Department of Labor website.www.dol.gov/esa.In the search bar,type in, Wage and hour division or WHD.This should give you most information on what you and your fellow drivers are looking for.There is also a link on this page for you to find out what your State laws may be on overtime and wages.Under the Fair Labor Standards Act companies must pay overtime to employees with few exceptions.I doubt very much that your company has a legal loophole.While at this page,hit on the sidebar under "contact us".Pose your question and situation to them(DOL).Their response might be in your favor and you can then have them guide you on what legal avenues you can seek out.One last thing.States laws on wages must meet the federal standard.A States laws can never be lower than the federal standard just higher if the States wish to do so.Let me know how this plays out.

Thank you, I will check this out right now.

Read the motor carrier exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2004/rpt/2004-R-0464.htm

Heyns57,Your right about federal law regarding the overtime pay exemption for truckdrivers.However some States have enacted laws requiring truck drivers to be compenstated for overtime.Washington State recently enacted a law requiring truck drivers to be paid overtime even if their company is engaged in interstate commerce.I don't know what State CoalHauler is from but like I stated to him,check the link at that page and inquire about what each individual States laws are and if State where he resides are different than the Federal standard.States do have the right to adopt their own laws in regards to exemptions and overtime as Washington State did.I'm sure that most trucking companies have lobbyists up in their States capital fighting any change from the federal standard but it did happen in Washington State,maybe others have or will change their laws on truck driver overtime pay.

Well...I contacted WHD referral office. They gave me the number to Colorado Department of Labor, Wage & Hour . The number was bad, so i called WHD back and the website she gave me also lead to nowhere. The States section on whd lead me to a page of individual states. Click on Colorado and you get the same number WHD gave. The number and website are dead. But I did find out there are a few OT exemptions. I.E. Switchboard operators, some Petroleum products and some Farming. Agricultural Commodities are also exempt. Is Coal an Agricultural Commodity? I thought it was a mineral, or an Ore...Thanks

Coal hauler,I did some more research
1.US Department of Labor in Denver,1-866-487-9243
2.Colorado Department of Labor in Denver,303-318-8441 or 888-390-7936
Hope these aren't dead ends also.If you reach a live person on the phone you may at least put your question at rest regarding overtime.I should have read your post a little better.Since you have OTR and local drivers my guess is that that OTR drivers haul out of State which would classify your company as an interstate carrier meaning no overtime.If you were employed by a intrastate carrier(scrict definition) you would be entitled to overtime.I worked for an interstate carrier for 13 years but just driving local.They paid me overtime after 8 hours although they weren't obligated to do so.I guess it pays to check out a companies policy before hiring on.