A renewed effort to guarantee overtime compensation for employee truckers is underway.
Last week, the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act was reintroduced in the House and Senate. Known as the GOT Truckers Act, the bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to remove the motor carrier overtime exemption. It does not require companies to pay drivers by the hour. The bill would simply require that truckers receive overtime compensation – 150% of their regular rate of pay – for all of the hours beyond the standard 40-hour work week.
Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Mark Takano, D-Calif., introduced HR1962, while Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced S893.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports the GOT Truckers Act and launched a campaign on its Fighting For Truckers website.
“The Fair Labor Standards Act denies truck drivers guaranteed overtime pay,” OOIDA wrote. “Unlike nearly all other blue-collar employees, this exemption means truckers aren’t guaranteed time-and-a-half pay if they work more than 40 hours a week because of traffic, bad weather or delays at loading docks. Since many truckers are often only paid for the miles they drive, they don’t get fair pay for all of the hours they work. The FLSA exemption only serves to devalue a trucker’s time.”
Why was an exemption granted in the first place?
The original intent of the motor carrier exemption in the 1938 act was to prevent truck drivers from being encouraged to work excessive hours. However, the opposite has happened. It is common for truck drivers to work 70 hours in a week while receiving a base pay similar to what someone would make in a 40-hour week.
Van Drew, who also introduced the bill in the previous session, said it is time to compensate truckers fairly.
“I for one do rise in support of removing the exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Van Drew said during a hearing in 2023. “It denies truckers guaranteed overtime pay. Any other industry or business, when you work hours and hours over your regular time, you get paid overtime. It’s only fair, and truckers work harder than just about anybody else, so it makes it even more fair.”
The change would apply to company drivers, but OOIDA contends that forcing shippers and receivers to value a trucker’s time will also benefit owner-operators.
“This law won’t tell the U.S. DOT how to regulate working hours or set pay rates for truckers,” OOIDA wrote. “It merely levels the playing field for truckers and nearly every other worker in America.”
No taxes on overtime?
The bill to remove the motor carrier overtime exemption is even more important now that President Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate taxes on overtime wages.
Trump promoted the idea during his election campaign and then mentioned the plan during his address to Congress on March 4.
“The people who work overtime are among the hardest working citizens in our country,” Trump said during a campaign speech in September 2024.
The bipartisan GOT Truckers Act would not only enable employee truck drivers to receive overtime compensation but also allow them to receive a tax break if Trump’s plan comes to fruition. LL
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