Comtrak settles misclassification lawsuit with drivers

Comtrak Logistics is on the hook for nearly $5 million in a misclassification lawsuit settlement.

On Dec. 14, a Tennessee federal court approved a settlement of $4.75 million between Comtrak and a class of hundreds of truckers alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors.

According to the complaint, which was originally filed in 2013, although Comtrak “retained and exercised pervasive control over their freight transport operations and their truck drivers, (Comtrak) misclassified drivers as independent contractors.” The allegations apply to Comtrak drivers operating in California.

Plaintiffs claim Comtrak did not compensate drivers for the majority of their time spent waiting on customers and waiting on dispatch. Drivers were not paid for the first two hours of detention time.

Drivers also claim they were not paid for other routine nondriving work tasks, including inspecting vehicles, fueling vehicles and completing daily paperwork.

Furthermore, Comtrak allegedly did not pay drivers for time spent driving actual miles in excess of predetermined average mileage estimates.

Comtrak also allegedly failed to provide drivers with a first meal period of not less than 30 minutes after five hours of work and a second meal period after 10 hours of work. Consequently, drivers were not paid for one hour for each workday that a meal period was not provided. Drivers also claim they did not receive the required 10-minute rest period after each four hours worked.

Based on the above allegations, drivers accuse Comtrak of failure to:

• Record the actual hours worked by drivers.
• Itemize the total hours worked on wage statements furnished to drivers.
• Properly maintain payroll records showing the actual hours worked and meal periods taken and missed each day by drivers.

Comtrak failed to indemnify drivers for employment-related expenses, including fuel, maintenance, repairs, truck payments for the use of a truck, quarterly inspections, tolls, ferry charges, late-delivery fees, cargo loss or damage, licensing and liability, and other insurance covering workplace injuries, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs also allege that the company also took deductions from drivers’ pay to cover some or all of those expenses.

In 2014, Comtrak settled with 632 of 683 class members for more than $9 million. LL