AB5 coming to NJ, thoughts?

It'll be nation wide soon.

 

As if the TV show Jersey Shore wasn't enough reason to move up there, now this.

 

I wouldn't have expected that there. NJ is the land of the leased when it comes to trucks. Many MANY of the Jersey-based carriers have leased-on O/O's, from grocery haulers, to retail delivery, to fuel haulers, intermodal...you name it.

 

EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION
NJ LEGISLATURE TO BAN INDEPENDENT
OWNER OPERATORS BY DECEMBER 2019
The Independent Contractor trucking model is under attack in New Jersey.

77% of the drivers who work at the Port of NY & NJ are independent contractors, but the NJ legislature is set to ban owner operators in New Jersey next month, crippling the ability to move freight at the second-largest port in the U.S.

Two bills, S4204 and A5936, re-write the ABC classification test so that Independent Owner Operators cannot pass & must work as Company Employees.

Many Independent Owner Operator drivers have no idea that they will lose their ability to work in NJ very soon if these bills pass in December. Please share this important news update with them.​

Contact these legislators today and tell them you OPPOSE S4204 and A5936:
Senate President Sweeney 856-251-9801, sensweeney@njleg.org
Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean 908-232-3673 senkean@njleg.org
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, 732-855-7441, asmcoughlin@njleg.org
Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, 908-232-2073, asmbramnick@njleg.org

Contact your local legislators, too. Look them up using this link:

New Jersey Legislature - Districts by Number

Email your legislators using an online form at this link:
New Jersey Legislature - Find your State Representatives by Municipality

Visit www.bistatemotorcarriers.com
for additional details and resources

For breaking news & updates, follow us on Facebook & Twitter
facebook.com/BiStateMC/ BiStateMotorCarriers (@BiStateMC) | Twitter​

 

WHY DO WE OPPOSE S4204 AND A5936?
--The Port Driver perspective is being ignored. The sponsors of these bills did not speak to anyone from the trucking community when drafting these bills, and no one from the trucking industry was included on the Governor's Misclassification Task Force.

--The Drivers Do Not Want This 77% of port drivers are Independent Contractors, and they want to remain independent business owners. These bills take away their right to pursue the American Dream.

-- Freight Transportation Requires a Flexible Workforce The Legislature does not understand how essential Independent Contractors are to the Port Trucking industry. Freight volumes fluctuate throughout the year, and the workforce must be able to expand and contract along with it.

-- Minority-Owned Businesses Will Be Hardest Hit The transportation industry has a larger share of minority workers than any other industries in NJ. This legislation will hurt minority-owned businesses

-- Jobs Will Be Lost There are 6500 Owner Operators at the port, and trucking companies cannot afford to hire all of them as employees

-- NJ Will Suffer Financially These bills will cost the State of NJ billions of dollars in federal, state, and local tax revenues when there aren't enough drivers to move freight. Shippers will send their freight to other nearby ports (Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk) and we will never get that business back.

-- Consumers Will Pay More--for Everything! NJ is already one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S. This bill will make it worse: the cost of everything that travels by truck will increase significantly, including food, medicine, fuel, clothing, electronics, and more, hitting NJ’s low-income and middle class residents the hardest.

CONTACT THE NJ LEGISLATURE
AND GOVERNOR MURPHY AND TELL THEM
YOU STAND WITH THE PORT TRUCKERS!​

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence. Assemblyman Bramnick agrees and is strongly opposed to this legislation and is fighting against it.


Thank you again for reaching out to our office. Please do not hesitate to contact us again in the future.


Sincerely,

Zina Pozner

Policy Director

Office of Assemblyman Jon Bramnick

21st Legislative District

251 North Ave. West

Westfield, NJ 07090



From:
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 11:40 AM
To: Bramnick, Asm. D.O. <AsmBramnick@njleg.org>
Subject: reconsider A5936


11/19/2019


Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick

asmbramnick@njleg.org


RE: S4204 and A5936 are detrimental to New jersey’s minority businessmen


I am the Safety director of a small, family owned, New Jersey warehouse and transportation company that utilizes Independently owned power units [tractors] to transport import containers out and back to the seaport. While I do agree that misclassification is an issue; the legislators of New Jersey have, hopefully by accident, ensnared a considerable number of individuals who should be considered true independent contractors who have found a path to their own slice of the American dream.


We lease on tractors owned by individuals who do not desire to drive for another business. They have invested thousands into their own power unit. They are residents of New Jersey living in our local communities and raising their families here.


They purchase their registration and fuel tax licenses from the state. They purchase their fuel in the state and have their trucks repaired by mechanics in this state and pay their fuel taxes to New Jersey.


Our company services only a few counties of New Jersey. Our contractors make multiple, short trips and often utilize the New Jersey turnpike to help them turn around for another trip.


Most of the independent contractors currently under lease to our company are minority businessmen who have specialized in serving our seaport. Without the ability to utilize these individuals, our customers will become disappointed. With all the other East Coast ports competing for the shipments that now land in New Jersey; our business and many similar New Jersey transportation companies would fail.


Please re-consider the potential losses to New Jersey before voting on A5936

 

If they drive truckers out there will be no trucks delivering things to their hungry hands.
Let them starve.

It works both ways, never forget.
If we don't deliver the goods, they don't have anything.

 

When the law passes, not one one shelf will
Be empty in any store.
Somebody will find some way to overcome it.
The first one to figure it out will make a boat
Load of money.
That's how capitalism works.