Trucker advocates have been making headway on the issue of driver pay reform. Multiple lawsuits brought the subject into the spotlight in recent years, but a new opinion published by the U.S. Department of Labor could threaten the progress that’s been made.
One thing that sets trucker pay apart from the rest of the U.S. workforce is that most truckers are paid per mile, not per hour. But despite that, federal minimum wage laws still apply to truckers just like all other workers.
In a lawsuit brought against PAM Transport, drivers argued that PAM had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying them at least minimum wage for all hours worked. The drivers claimed that since they were still performing job responsibilities even while not logging their time as ‘on duty,’ that time should count toward their hours worked. The judge agreed with them, ruling that “there is no ambiguity” – a driver must be paid for time spent in their truck while not eating or sleeping.
But a new legal opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) says that hours spent in the sleeper berth during off-duty time should not count towards hours worked since drivers are “relieved from all duties.”
The opinion does state that if a driver is doing work in the sleeper berth, that time is considered to be “compensable hours worked.” Unfortunately, time spent on the job but not working is a huge part of many truckers’ lives.
“A primary duty of a truck driver’s job is waiting, but unfortunately they are paid by the mile and nothing for their time,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement.
But large carriers understandably seem pleased by the shift in policy. American Trucking Association President and CEO Chris Spear commended the DOL for the guidance, saying that it provides “an opportunity for stakeholders to better understand their compliance obligations prospectively, rather than settling such matters only after the fact, through costly and wasteful litigation.”
As Overdrive points out, DOL legal opinion is not law, but it could have a significant impact on current and future court cases on the issue.
Source: gobytrucknews, overdrive, freightwaves, ttnews, truckersreport, truckersreport, truckersreport
Charles Underwood says
Of course, the ATA is thrilled with the current Trump administration ruling on Trucker Pay. There currently is only an acting chief of the Department of Labor The first Trump appointee had to resign due to his legal entanglement with a convicted child molester Jeffery Epstein.
Reality says
Indeed.
JohnT says
Worthless article and opinion from DOL…all drivers know that waiting on a load in the sleeper isn’t on duty time. The Judge just ruled drivers should be paid for time not spent eating or sleeping which all reputable carriers do. Any flat bed driver tarping and straping a load is paid an hourly wage, and most LTL carriers pay by the hour. This article is filler simply put…
Edwaed Johnson says
You are wrong. There is a lot of LTL Company’s that do not pay by the hour.
Kosma says
Make me smile to see all this !)
Robert Johnson says
Drivers should be paid for all hours worked
“On duty hours” Driving, paperwork, waiting to be loaded and unloaded, etc.
They should be paid a fair wage including overtime for over 40 hours.
How would you like to be paid?
Edwaed Johnson says
I totally agree! If your in their truck sleeping or not, away from home you should get paid even if they have to pay you by the hour when you are On Duty Not driving.
Sam says
DOL just another Criminal organization!
CW says
Chris Spears just another puppet for the 5 mega carriers. As usual, you think drivers should be underpaid. You set behind your door desk and make some of the dumbest comments.
CjY says
So… log it how it is… simple as that don’t save your hours if you feel your going to be there a while you can be on the clock for an unlimited amount of hours granite it’s a loss at the end of the day for everyone…. If you sit at a shipper waiting to be loaded be on duty, if youwake up in the morning and you don’t have a load send a message available for a load clock on put yourself on duty simple as that follow the law as it’s written Roflmao
MrYowler says
Most places will not allow you to stay parked when you run out of hours because you stayed “on-duty”. Get your truck towed a couple of times with all of your gear in it, and see how you feel about “log it like it is”.
When push comes to shove, the driver is the only one getting pushed or shoved.
Jay Pressley says
Apparently, the driver shortage is fake news if carriers are looking for ways to alienate drivers.
Gary says
It’s obvious that there’s no driver shortage.
Edwaed Johnson says
Your being Sarcastic!
Sundance says
The Driver shortage has been created by the mega carriers themselves. The use a 5 step business platform to macimize profits.
1. Pay zip code to zip code to the drivers and bill actual miles to the customer. This equates to about a 5% shortage of miles in drivers pay. Example you drive 100,000 miles in a year they pay you for 95,000 miles and pocket the rest. Multiply that by the number of drvrs in your co.
2. When drivers get to a certain pay scale they start throttling your miles by giving freight to the less paid newer employees. Its just more profititable for them. They dont care if you quit in fact thats what they are hoping for.
3. Hire as many new drivers as they can because the get huge tax breaks for hiring alot of new drivers.
4. Recruit military veterans because they get up to 8,000 dollars in tax credit if they hire recent military veterans that have been out of work for over 6 months and more if they can hire disabled veterans.
5. Install security devices like driver facing cameras to limit their liabilities of fault during accidents by finding footage of the driver doing something against company policies. Which i guess is acceptable behavior since it is their truck, equipment, load and customers.
CjY says
Going to be an owner op market lol or ***autonomous*** give that a year and all those carriers will be saying we’ve got a surplus of 500000 drivers lol companies are going to to start getting more selective on who they hire and not just flood the market
(We are all pawns in this game in the who really wins?)
Russ Felker says
WHY DON’T THESE TRUCKING OUTFITS HAVE TO PAY OVERTIME IF YOU’RE AN HOURLY DRIVER???????
Gary says
Because drivers aren’t paid hourly.
Rory says
I was paid hourly for 15 years. The last two years it went from OT after 40 to all straight time
inaNYminet says
So as long as you are logged in on duty at shipper or waiting for dispatch, you have to be compensated. Very easy problem to solve, never logg out of driving or on duty not driving unless you are taking mandatory half hour break, a personal break or your 10. When you run out of hours on shipper or receivers property, oh well. Then they have to figure out what to do with you from there.
Wayne collins says
Very good point
Sean says
Well said. I think that if the mega cariiiers don’t want to pay drivers, then drivers should just quit. And remember if there are no workers, (drivers) then who will buy the product or service?
Think carefully..
66%of the economy is made up of consumer spending. Therefore less spending
..less demand…less production…less profit..its that simple…
Karl says
What about the 100k plus illegal imagrents on the border who will work for pennies?
little trucker says
everyone is having a serious conversation here. why you don’t shut off you butt and start thinking with your brain if you have one.
Brian says
That is true. But your dispatcher will leave you wherever you are to sit for long periods of time. Then they will finally send you somewhere else, and then again, you will sit..so you comply with their intimidation tactics just so you can keep moving.
WALTER SADLER says
Agree Dot states waiting for loading or unloading must be logged as on duty not driving, rest then
Gary says
That’s what I do.
MrYowler says
When they tow your truck with all your stuff in it, you will not be permitted to go along and sleep in it, in the impound lot. You can clear it all out while the tow truck hooks up, but then you’re left standing there at the dock with all your bags, no job, nowhere to go, and no way to get there – the very definition of vagrancy. Are you a professional driver or a professional vagrant? Do you see a difference between the two?
If being obstinate is your game plan, then you’d better quit now. The only person that obstinacy stands to punish, is the driver.
JDub says
One way to fix the problem is to just shut down period for a freaking wake-up call. It will only take one time to show how important we all are to this country.
Geri mann says
Yes it use to pay to be out here. I got payed $50 drop/hook, lay-over pay, local pay, and if I had to help unload got payed for that too. But now you work 14 hrs a day just to get 300 to 500 miles a day. A drop/hook is not even that anymore. When I have to drop mty, hook loaded pull it out of dock, drop loaded hook mty dock it, drop it and then go back hook loaded… That is yard dog work. I’ve been doing this for 35 yrs and these new drivers out here think they are getting payer well but really the pay has been taken away from us.
Karl says
Your the reason for poor pay, not the newbies! I fact you old dullards have kept pay in the crapper, not the new drivers.
Red says
**You’re**
If you can’t spell, don’t try to make arguments. You invalidate your entire comment. Also you seem like a newbie that is willing to work for pennies. You’re the problem. Think before you speak (post).
Lewis says
The fact is that you understood what was being said regardless of spelling or punctuation.
Also, he is right. If people had been following the laws on the books for all these years instead of using 2 or 3 logbooks, rates would have gone up. They were effectively creating extra supply for the market, which keeps rates low. Sure the drivers made more money at the time, but they had to run more hours. If the supply of drivers/hours/miles were where they should have been, based on the rules, rates and driver pay would have risen.
That’s the reason rates jumped when ELD became mandatory, nobody could cheat the system which effectively cut the supply, and all of a sudden companies had to increase driver pay.
Harold Hart says
If companies have to pay for every little bit of time spent working, mileage rates will be adjusted and drivers will be required to log on duty. Be careful of what you ask for, you may get more than you bargained for.
ChromeGetsYouHome says
@ Harold Hart, I agree completely. Carriers will also have to spend more money to oversee that time worked while not driving is actually being worked at an acceptable level. That oversight will cost money and it will come from the driver’s pocket. ELDs have helped put a value on driver’s time, where paper logs allowed shippers/receivers/carriers to abuse a driver’s time but no doubt this aspect of trucking still needs improvement. Funny that OOIDA is still against ELDs and ELDs led to rate/pay increases for drivers in most segments. Drivers in open deck, reefer and other areas are still making a lot more than they were before ELDs started becoming the norm.
J.C. Walker says
Truckers don’t have to work driving a truck. They can do something else if they don’t like their jobs or they can get their own truck and see if they fare any better.
I say, what ever is agreed upon at the onset is what you go by.
Daron Rude says
Well that’s a piss poor comment and attitude. You do of course know that owner /operator is even a worse scenario. O/O typically get taken hostage through thinking that there must be a better living in owning, Once you buy your truck – the only way out is through going bankrupt. Most people however wont do this and get trapped in owning for years. Thinking a better rate, a better contractor is maybe just around the corner. Or better luck…as far as engines go.
Owning a truck or even a few is as close to going to the casino as you can get. Problem with the casino is that the house always wins. Same with trucking – the trucker will always lose.
It’s a sad state of affairs that people allow this to happen. Truckers bring all your shit to where you need it to be. Without truckers, everything would shut down. And trucker have some of the worst pay and worst conditions to deal with – along with super high levels of responsibility.
The only thing that will solve this issue is the one thing that goes against a truckers nature – the ability to bond together and work together as a team to shut down the entire nation in one fail swoop and demand better wages. Our independent nature is really our weakness and is what allows contractors to take advantage of us.
Why would you open a business and allow your rates to be set by others at a sub living level?
The world treats truckers like dogs and it needs to stop.
Then theres the DOT ….that’s a whole other rant.
So the the guy who wrote the comment I am replying to – I cant really say to you what I would like to as it would probably get my comment deleted, but I’m sure you can figure it out.
Christopher says
Out of curiosity, how long have you been driving???? It saddens me when drivers say something like what you said and don’t understand how they’re been taking advantage of but willing to comply with this blind commitment.
MrYowler says
Drivers leave the industry all the time, but as P.T. Barnum said; ” There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Look, driving is an unskilled profession. By that, I mean that with a couple of weeks of training, pretty much anyone can drive a truck. Skilled and experienced drivers may be better at it, and safer on the road, but just about anyone can get the job done with a modicum of mostly on-the-job training.
Other jobs mentioned (skilled trades) require more training, usually at the employee’s expense, and skilled professional jobs can require extensive and expensive college educations, with no guarantee of future employment, much less payback of the costs involved. There are a lot more advertisements for skilled work, than there are actual openings, and more openings than hirings.
Add to that, the fact that the average age of drivers is up there – a lot of the guys getting pushed out are in their 50’s. Too soon for Social Security, but too late for entry-level skilled trades or professions, and long past being able to earn back the cost of retraining. Some of us were in our 40’s when we got into driving, because of changes in our skilled professions, which we never recovered the cost of training into. Should we repeat those mistakes by going back to college? We no longer qualify for financial aid…
It’s not generally practical to just go do something else, so what’s going to happen, is that we’re going to find our way into social safety nets, hospitals, or prisons. You’re going to shell out for us, one way or another. Would you rather pay us a fair wagevfor an honest days’ work, or pay for our subsistence, and get nothing?
Or perhaps we should just die and get out of your way?
Steve R says
I agree with J.C Walker, if you don’t like your pay then find another profession. Driving a truck is not all there is. There is a shortage of skilled workers in the crafts ie. Electrical (commercial, industrial and residential), the same for plummers & pipefitters, welders. Companies are hungry for workers who want to learn a craft. They can pay really well. The Perry Institute in Yakima Washingtion is a very good 2 year school to learn electrical and industrial electronic instrumentation.
If you wait for things to change in trucking for your benefit, you will become old and still waiting. Corporations rule this country and the lawmakers. Of course there are good jobs working for UPS and any of the other union companies, if you can get on with one of them then go for it or get out of trucking and make yourself another path.
Tlm says
I guess you and J.C Walker must be a couple of company puppets. What about companies a driver works for that files bankruptcy then never pays the driver a dime ? Its happening more everyday. Another is when these 2 puppets say pay should be what was agreed on. I know of at least one big carrier K&B who don’t give the guaranteed pay. If you quit they pay you under a fictitious company claiming to have only one truck and driver and give you a check for what they claim hours driven, miles divided by 70 ( mph ) which actually comes to less than minimum wage. These crooked companies find a way to always screw the drivers.
Steve R says
Hey Tim, I am 62 retired at 59 because I lived debt free except for my house. I went to a 2 year college/trade school and have a degree in Industrial Process Instrumentation and also a degree in Process Technologies. These degrees helped get my foot in the door working in the oil fields of Alaska and projects in Korea. These degrees will get your foot in the door at a plethora of industries that require electronic control system work or operators of industrial plants, nuclear power plants, manufacturing plants and so on. I recommend getting certified as a industrial electrician along with courses in Instrumentation. My pay started out around $80,000 per year and the last ten years my pay was $120,000 to $180,000. I had a higher salary because I was willing to work in a remote harsh difficult environment in Alaska and I was also willing to work overseas.
I don’t need to work but I am a bit bored so I got my CDL along with all the endorsements earlier this year. I am not driving because I am not willing to go on the road for 1 or 2 months pretending to be in training. I mistakenly thought that with the driver shortage companies would be willing to take into account my experience with driving my RVs, pulling my tractor on my flatbed and so on. My mistake and money down the drain for the CDL.
Mr Yowler is right that there are no guarantees that you will get hired after putting out money and time for college/training for a trade but if you do nothing you will get nothing.
Terry says
I agree. Piss on this institution ( 18 years). 30% annual pay loss, partially because if their grand electronic log book
Gary says
You were breaking the law before.
You should ask for an HOS change. Not for an easy way to violate it.
Benjamin says
It will be a much better system if, the new rules make it so that the driver has say so of when to drive and how much to work. The current system forces drivers to often work so much that fatigue sets in.
You try to pull of to rest and there calling you. Forcing you to drive more. That’s a broken system. The driver should have ultimate say in when and how much to work.
Also my most annoying thing I have a problem with is the shippers should have the fines when they overload your truck NOT The driver who often does not get say so of how much to put on the truck. This should be changed right away. If the shipping industry is responsible for overload tickets I bet it will make it a more fair system.
Gary says
You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do.
Jim says
True, but when you get scammed by a so-called “employer” you often lose lots of time you can’t get back.
Like being in prison for crime you didn’t commit.
B says
My husband and I have driven as team drivers for over 10 years. We are proud to be “Professional Drivers” and we act as such. At times it can be an unfair career choice. We are not payed or treated as “professionals” a lot of the time. The career choice has been a good one non the less. It is true that shippers should be held accountable for our time and weight issues but no career is perfect. Stand your ground and drive safe is the only thing we can do. At the end of the day, we can be proud of the job (or load) and service we provide.
DoubleDealz says
Yeah Get On Panther I Been Out For 4 weeks sit at truck stop More then anything paycheck $17.01 no loads but it’s time away from home in family
Jon says
DOL Bought and paid for by you guessed it the ATA .
Steve says
These guys say if you don’t like it find another profession. My question is why should all you truck drivers work 60 to 70 hours a week to make a living other people make in 40. As far as I’m concerned you guys should be pay for all time away from home and this nonsense of getting one day off per week out is stupid. Should be two days. I understand that the consumer will pay more for what they buy but so be it. Why should you drivers suffer. It’s been that way for a long time
Jim says
It’s because of the drivers great “work ethic”, doncha know……
Mike says
We are not goi g to get anything done until we shut these trucks down for a week. When drivers get a set and shut down the us citizens will raise hell because they won’t be able to feed their families. That’s when we’ll see some changes. I have a question for chao how many miles has she driven and what qualifies her to be the head of the dot.
Rob says
“relieved from all duties” means I don’t have to sit there and be responsible for that load, right? Great, glad we cleared that up.
Tlm says
Rob, you know if you did that and something happened to the load, you’d be hit with abandoning the truck and trailer. These companies and the trucking industry know how to screw drivers over
Marley says
10-4.. if it goes missing that wasn’t your duty!
R.H. says
The DOL was established to protect labor. But after election, after election of people voting for pro business stooges, we now have an advocate of right-to-work laws running the agency. Conservatism is about making workers serfs again. What’s happening right now, should make it clear that you dumb Mfers have been cutting our throats for fifty years. But it won’t. You’ll just vote even more fervently to give the billionaire corporate class, all the power.
little trucker says
well said
J.C. Walker says
The underdogs have all the power in South Africa. Look how that turned out.
The key to life? says
I feel like I’m on-duty until I shut it down for the night. I have one year before I’m debt free and after that I’m free from this prison of debt the majority of Americans are sunk into. After that I could care less about any of this BS that goes on out here. You violate your hours by 5-15 minutes and that’s a big deal? Not to me but the non driving people running the show think so.
The trucking industry has more bureaucratically nonsense than congress has “lawmakers”. Congress, the Federal Reserve and the banks break and steal from hard working American every second of the day, but it’s ok for our government to bail them out every year? Our tax money is for them. Bail out?! Haha, what a joke, that goes on every year. Why do you think they are all millionaires?
Anyway, DO NOT save your money or keep in locked up in the banks. Money sitting isn’t helping you get out of debt but makes the banking industry even stronger. Get yourself out of debt and you will truly be rich when you can say I don’t owe the banks a single cent. Don’t be a slave to the trade. Life within your means and quit trying to impress the next guy. Take control of you life and your future by starting today.
Thank you God for saving me and opening up my eyes to what is truly the focus in this life. I thank you with all my heart in Jesus name, Amen!
Tim says
I have been saying this for years, “debt = slavery”. Last week my boss tried to intimidate me because I asked for a raise. He said, “if you need to work somewhere else, I’ll understand”. I wish I had a picture of his face, when I said, “see ya”
J.C. Walker says
Very good.
Stephen Palmer says
ATA = Anti-trucker Association
Anytime you see them approving or promoting a idea or law it’s always bad for you as a truck driver.
Gene says
If you work for a company that you think may be paying you less then minimum wages then quit. If it don’t make dollars it don’t make sense. There are more jobs then drivers, find one worth having. I just got a home daily that has a guarantee pay if $1500 a week and can go up from there.
Karl says
The less we can work… The more valueable our time becomes, plain and simple.
Dottieshusband says
It amazes me the number of driver that can’t run a calculator, accept a mileage run, with multiple stops, and requiring an overnight stop before coming home… and think they are making money… divide your check, minus the cost of meals, by the number of hours you are away from home…. many times, less than minimum wage, and many times, less that $15 bucks an hour. As long as drivers do the work, carriers will be more than happy to perpetuate the low pay.
Reality says
This industry for divers has been dead for years. Trucking I consider job filler, not a career except for unions and other LTL’s. Our problems here in America is much bigger than ATA, Brokers and Carriers. Our biggest problem is us…
Jim says
The problem is and was created by drivers who think they’re such great people because they work 100 hours a week for $10 an hour.
Brainless “work ethic” idiots who are too dumb to realize they’re not building ANYTHING for themselves but wearing themselves out to make someone else rich.
little trucker says
you know how many of mfkrs I encounter??? and they are proud of the sticker “1 million miles accident free”.
Jean says
About 5-1/2 years ago my husband worked for J.B. Hunt. He received a letter at Christmas time. Thinking it might be a Christmas card thanking him for all his hard work, a check to buy Christmas gift for the kids. New better go the same thing the year before from John Roberts III and company. You don’t make enough money, you should file for government support. Yet he was making 42 million dollars a year. Shame on you John Roberts III. Without truckers you would have nothing.
Jean says
He would still be there if they paid him a living wage. They kept promising and promising raises. Wouldn’t give him his own truck. After he put in his notice they cut his insurance and we had to go to Cobra even though he was working. The last day of work they made sure his truck was hard to unload. At one of the Home Depot stops one of the managers helped him unload. The whole truck was loaded backwards. Could tell you more, but you get this idea. JB Hunt wants the government to pay their workers.
Nicolas D. says
And then we’ll hear the wailing about driver shortage and why young people don’t want a promising career in working-for-free as a slave with no social life. What a joke.
D says
Hahaha yup
scott A says
Wow, reading all the comment’s on here I see that the ATA has won with the help of the Fed’s. 3 Generations deep in this and there will be NO 4 one, I told all my grandsons you can do anything you want as long as trucking is not apart of it.
As I close out my time 38 years and counting, I’ve had some good times that I’ll always remember but the bad times and bullshit out weights it by far.For all you new drivers out there, eat the shit their serving for the first year or so and then jump to local, if you keep your nose clean you could end up with a ” good job” at UPS or someone like that and GET PAID BY THE HOUR!!!!