Drayage truck drivers to remain free operators (for now)
Keith Goble of Land Line Mag has an interesting article today on the freezing of a new bill which would have effectively stopped the owner-operator business model of drayage trucking: Assembly Bill 950. AB 950 would “deem drayage truck operators as employees of those persons who arrange for or engage their services, with the exception of public agency employers.”
With employment, of course, come various forms of liability, including workers’ compensation liability under Labor Code § 3700. No doubt this increased liability would translate to higher consumer prices and lower contract amounts for the individual drivers.
By falling under the category of independent contractors, drayage truck owner-operators escape the jurisdiction of the California workers’ compensation system. The independent contractor exception is one of the last few safe harbors remaining for individuals to retain control over their small businesses.
Fortunately, this bill has been ordered to the “inactive” file. Hopefully, it will be some time indeed before there is another encroachment from Sacramento onto the interactions between private citizens doing business.