Trucking Independent Contractors May be Misclassified

Some long haul trucking companies have been accused of misclassifying their employees as trucking independent contractors. This means that workers get paid less and do not receive the benefits that a regular employee might.

According to an article on trucks.com, Swift Transportation has been accused of misclassifying employees as trucking independent contractors, and the California Trucking Association has argued for the classification of workers as trucking independent contractors.

Earlier this year, a federal court in Arizona ruled that Swift Transportation, the nation’s largest trucking carrier, was responsible for misclassifying workers as trucking independent contractors when they should have been classified as employees. Truckers affected by the alleged misclassification stand to gain millions of dollars in back wages from Swift.

In this trucking independent contractors lawsuit, five plaintiffs claimed that they should have been classified as employees because Swift controlled their work schedules including when and where they had to drive as well as what routes they should take. They claimed that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, they should be afforded benefits and pay for that of employees.

In this case, the judge ruled that the contractor agreements the workers signed were actually employment contracts. This classified the workers as employees.

Additionally, another decision was made in a San Diego court to grant a motion dismissing a lawsuit filed by the California Trucking Association, or CTA. The CTA claimed that owner-operators of long haul trucks should be classified as trucking independent contractors rather than employees.

The CTA filed this trucking independent contractors lawsuit against California Labor Commissioner Julie Su, claiming that she misused an employment law to determine if someone was an independent contractor or an employee. The lawsuit attempted to stop Su from using this law.

But U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo disagreed. As the judge wrote, “CTA members are free to use independent contractors or employees. However, CTA members must do more than simply label a truck driver as an independent contractor; the truck driver must in fact be an independent contractor under California law.”

Essentially, in her opinion, some trucking companies were trying to get around labor laws by classifying workers as trucking independent contractors instead of employees.

Trucking Independent Contractors Seek Proper Classification

Many drivers who work for Swift and other long haul transportation companies say that their relationship with the companies they work for are employee-employer relationships rather than contractor relationships.

They also allege that companies do this in order to avoid having to abide by minimum wage requirements and meal and rest break requirements. In additions, companies who classify workers as trucking independent contractors do not have pay for health insurance or other work-related costs.

In California alone, long haul trucking drivers have filed about 800 wage claims since 2011. These workers claim that the trucking companies they work for have not paid them sufficiently for their wages, overtime, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.

Also in California, across 300 cases, drivers have won $35 million in awards with nearly 200 claims still pending in court.

If you have been employed by a long haul trucking company as one of their trucking independent contractors and you feel as if you have not been paid fairly, you may qualify to join a long haul trucker class action investigation.

Join a Free Long Haul Trucker Misclassification Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a long haul truck driver who has been misclassified as an independent contractor, you may be entitled to compensation.

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