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News roundup, May 19: OOIDA, ATA, others join lawsuit against California’s A.B. 5

Updated May 24, 2020

Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, May 19, 2020:

Trucking groups, carriers join lawsuit against California’s A.B. 5
A group of trucking organizations and carriers have filed briefs in support of the California Trucking Association’s lawsuit against California’s A.B. 5 law that challenged the owner-operator model in California.

There were six separate amicus briefs filed to the court last week in support of CTA’s lawsuit. An amicus brief is a legal document filed in appellate court cases filed by parties that are not part of the case with strong interest in the subject matter. Those who filed briefs were:

CTA sued the state in November over the law, which enacted the so-called ABC test for determining whether a worker is an employee or a contractor. Most difficult for trucking, the B-prong of the ABC test prevents employers from contracting with workers that perform the same work as the business itself, which effectively limited carriers from leasing owner-operators to haul freight under traditional owner-operator agreements. Joining them in the lawsuit were two independent owner-operators, Ravinder Singh and Thomas Odom.

Judge Roger Benitez, of U.S. District Court in Southern California, issued a last-minute restraining order Dec. 31 to temporarily block enforcement of A.B. 5 on trucking before it took effect on Jan. 1. He then heard arguments on Jan. 13, from both sides of the case as to whether he should issue a longer injunction against the law until the lawsuit can be heard and adjudicated. A few days later, he sided with CTA, Singh and Odom, granting their request to put a stay of enforcement on the law pending the ongoing lawsuit.

Be wary of ‘extremely active’ cargo thieves around Memorial Day
Cargo theft recording firm SensiGuard is warning truck drivers of “extremely active” cargo theft rings in the coming days due to shipments typically being left unattended for longer periods of time over the long Memorial Day weekend.

The firm says it has recorded theft rates up to 71% higher and average values up to 292% higher during Memorial Day weekends than on non-holiday weekends. Since 2014, Memorial Day weekends have seen an average theft value of $324,403 totaling more than $12 million.