National Freight moves to decertify class of truckers in wage lawsuit

National Freight Inc. is making a move to limit the scope of a lawsuit accusing the company of misclassifying truck drivers.

On Monday, National Freight asked a federal court in New Jersey to decertify a class of truckers in lawsuit. According to court documents, all of the drivers worked full time for the company making deliveries to Trader Joe’s locations throughout the East Coast.

Court documents reveal that at least 135 drivers were signed on as independent contractors for National Freight to make deliveries to Trader Joe’s stores in the region.

In November 2015, a group of truck drivers filed a lawsuit against National Freight. The lawsuit alleges that the drivers were misclassified as independent contractors and missed out on wages owed if they were more properly classified as employees.

According to the complaint, National Freight hired both employee drivers and independent contractors to deliver goods from Trader Joe’s warehouses to various stores on the East Coast. The lawsuit alleges that employees and independent contractors performed the same job.

More specifically, drivers would pick up loads in one of two warehouses. One warehouse was in Nazareth, Pa., and the other in Hatfield, Pa. Those loads were delivered to stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Although independent contractors were required to have their own trucks, National Freight also required that all trucks carry the company’s logo and operate under its U.S. Department of Transportation number.

Furthermore, drivers in the lawsuit claim they were entirely dependent on National Freight for their business. According to the lawsuit, they were not allowed to perform delivery services for anyone else during the time at National Freight.

Dependent on National Freight

Independent contractors would report to the Pennsylvania distribution each day to pick up the trailers. At the same time, employee drivers would be performing the same loading tasks.

Plaintiffs also point out how National Freight controlled their operations. The company assigned the contractors a set route and gave them a schedule that indicated what time they were to leave the distribution center. Drivers were to arrive 30 minutes before that scheduled time and were monitored with National Freight’s Qualcomm system during the trip.

Drivers were also unable to negotiate the price they were paid per mile or the price paid for fuel surcharges. The complaint alleges that National Freight would delay increases in the fuel surcharge amounts for several weeks when the cost of fuel increased. However, when the cost of fuel decreased, the fuel surcharge amounts would be immediately calculated.

Plaintiffs also claim they were not paid the distance they drove. As they were paid per mile, National Freight would pay drivers based on expected mileage, not actual mileage driven. In addition, National Freight dispatchers would direct drivers to pick up merchandise outside their set routes and would not pay them accordingly.

Meetings and insurance deductions

Further stating their case of misclassification, independent contractors were required to attend safety meetings and other company meetings. Often, they did not receive additional pay for attending these meetings.

National Freight independent contractors also had several pay deductions levied on them. Drivers were required to pay for their own workers’ comp insurance, liability insurance and other job-related insurance. These were paid for by deductions from their weekly settlement statements by the company. Additional money was placed into an escrow account to cover damage claims, which would be returned to drivers 30 days after leaving the company. Drivers also had to pay for the Qualcomm system via weekly deductions.

Based on the above information, attorneys for the independent contractors argue that National Freight had complete control over their operations. Consequently, those drivers should be deemed employees, not independent contractors. The lawsuit alleges the company illegally deducted money from compensation in violation of New Jersey’s wage payment laws. LL