House, Senate reintroduce trucker overtime pay bill

WASHINGTON — Legislation that would give truck drivers the right to overtime pay was reintroduced in both the House and Senate on Thursday.

The Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act would eliminate an exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 that gives employers the right to exempt their drivers from overtime compensation – meaning they’re excluded from guaranteed time-and-a-half pay if they work more than 40 hours a week due to traffic congestion, weather or delays at loading docks.

A bipartisan House version of legislation was reintroduced by U.S. Reps. Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. A Senate companion bill was reintroduced by Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Ed Markey, D-Mass.

Similar bills introduced in 2022 and 2023 in the House and Senate did not advance out of committee.

“America’s truck drivers are on the frontlines of our economy, enduring long hours away from home, and all too often, unpaid wait times at congested ports and warehouses,” said Padilla in a statement.

“Unfortunately, truck drivers have been excluded from overtime pay protections for decades. If truckers are forced to wait while on the job, they should be paid. This is not just a matter of fairness; it’s a matter of public safety. Experienced truckers are safer truckers, and better compensation and overtime pay will help more of them stay in the profession.”

Overtime pay has been a top issue for owner-operators and independent drivers for years, along with increasing truck parking spaces and more transparency in freight billing with truck brokers.

“It’s long past time the hard work of the men and women behind the wheel are fairly compensated,” said Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer in a statement.

“By discounting a trucker’s time, ‘big trucking’ has driven wages downward, treating truckers as disposable rather than the skilled professionals they are.”

OOIDA pointed out that while President Donald Trump in his address to Congress on Tuesday proposed eliminating income tax on overtime pay, this would not benefit most truck drivers. “Incredibly, truck drivers are one of the only blue-collar occupations exempt from overtime requirements,” the group stated.

The Teamsters union also supports the bill, “which will right the decades-long wrong that serves only to harm drivers to the benefit of their employers,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien commented on Thursday.

The American Trucking Associations, which represents large carriers with employee drivers, has opposed removing the FLSA exemption for overtime pay, arguing it would “decimate trucking jobs by upending pay models” that have provided family-sustainable wages, ATA President Chris Spear commented after the bill was introduced in 2023.