Senators Alex Padilla (D-California), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) co-introduced truck driver overtime pay legislation on Monday. Democratic Michigan Rep. Andy Levin introduced the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act in April.
The bills aim to repeal the Fair Labor Standards Act's motor carrier provision, which exempts many commercial truck drivers from overtime.
[Related: Why we need to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption to solve the driver shortage]
In seeking drivers' removal from an exemption that covers drivers, drivers' helpers, loaders, mechanics, and anyone with "safety affecting activities," Padilla noted the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain crisis "aggravated persistent hardships for truckers, including long hours spent waiting – often unpaid – to load and unload goods." Dispatchers, office workers, unloaders, and loaders who are not responsible for proper loading are not exempt from overtime.
Markey blamed the truck driver shortage on the industry's pay disparity.
"Outdated labor regulations have denied these vital workers overtime, causing high turnover and supply chain disruptions," Markey said. "Don't believe trucking companies' crocodile tears. Paying drivers more attracts and retains them. The Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act eliminates the overtime exemption."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), Truck Safety Coalition, Institute for Safer Trucking, Parents Against Tired Truckers, and CRASH, a grassroots non-profit dedicated to truck safety in the U.S., support the legislation.
In its Supply Chain Assessment of the Transportation Industrial Base, the Department of Transportation recommended removing the exemption based on stakeholder input after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains and exposed vulnerabilities. The document recommended the DOT "urge Congress to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act motor carrier exemption." The exemption exempts many truck drivers from overtime.
