Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023:
After the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced in August it would consider petitions for waivers from its decisions to preempt California and Washington state’s Meal and Rest Break (MRB) rules, California has officially filed its petition.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in partnership with the California Labor Commissioner Lilia GarcĂa-Brower, announced Monday, Nov. 13, the filing of its petition seeking a waiver of federal preemption determinations that prevent the state from enforcing its meal and rest break requirements for truck and bus drivers in California.
While federal regulations allow truck drivers to drive eight hours without a break, California law generally requires employers to allow for 30-minute meal breaks during each five hours of work, and 10-minute rest breaks for every four-hour work period. Lawyers representing classes of workers against carriers large and small have made hay of -- and plenty of money from -- the discrepancy and the nature of on-highway work to seek judgments in the millions in court against companies for not accounting or allowing for the breaks.
[Related: A small fleet v. the Teamsters]
In 2018 and 2020 under the Trump Administration, FMCSA declared California’s rules preempted by federal regulations and therefore unenforceable. If FMCSA grants the waiver, Bonta said California can resume enforcing its meal and rest break rules on truck drivers.
“Meal and rest breaks are essential for the welfare of our workers, but are especially important for commercial drivers,” Bonta said. “Fatigued driving is especially deadly in the trucking and busing industries and contributes to accidents on California’s roadways.”
