OOIDA vocal in its support of GOT Truckers Act

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is letting the media know why it supports paying truck drivers overtime.

On April 14, Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., introduced the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act. The proposed bill would remove the motor carrier overtime exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The bipartisan-supported bill, which has seven co-sponsors, is backed by OOIDA. The Association sent a Call to Action email to its members on April 18, encouraging them to help build support for the bill.

“Ask your representative to co-sponsor HR7517, the Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act, which would eliminate this exemption and help truckers get fairly compensated for all the time they work,” OOIDA wrote. “Not only would this legislation provide overtime pay to company drivers, but it will help lift compensation for truckers across the industry.”

During an April 21 interview with WLAX-TV, OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh explained why the Association – and others in the transportation industry – have supported the proposed bill.

“Unfortunately, there’s a huge retention problem in the industry,” Pugh said. “Thanks to the Fair Labor Standards Act – which was founded a long time ago to regulate pay and employee protections – the truck driver was exempted from overtime. The average trucker works 70, 80, 90 hours a week. They’re allowed to drive 70, but they spend hours on end sitting at loading docks getting nothing. For far too long, shippers and receivers have taken advantage of them. So, what we feel is, a driver (being) paid by the mile is fine when they’re going up and down the road. But when he arrives at a shipper or receiver he should on the clock. He should be paid for those hours that he sits there.”

Reducing detention time

The FLSA’s motor carrier overtime exemption has been in place since 1938. The proposed measure would amend the FLSA to remove the exemption. Pugh said this will encourage shippers and receivers to reduce detention time for drivers.

“This would actually help the supply chain in my opinion. If shippers and receivers have to start paying for these trucks to sit around, they’d probably be a lot more ambitious about loading and unloading them.” LL