Transport Topics (May 7, 2021)
The U.S. Department of Labor said it would withdraw a federal regulation for classification of independent contractors. The rule, posted in the Federal Register in the last month of former President Donald Trump’s tenure, would have introduced, quote, “substantial confusion and uncertainty on the topic,” end quote. It was generally regarded as favorable to the trucking industry’s use of independent contractors. That’s because it offered a federal standard other than the so-called ABC test used in California’s Assembly Bill 5 law to determine if a truck driver is an employee or a contractor. That law is currently being challenged in court by the California Trucking Association.
