STPS

AB5 Impacting Independent Truck Drivers

A new law in California could negatively impact many independent truck drivers. AB5 was intended to give transport workers more workplace protections, but for truckers who own and operate their own rigs, it may be the end of the road.

This new law requires California truck drivers to be employees of the trucking companies that they do business with.

The problem is, that nearly all of the state’s goods are transported by truck, many of which are owned and operated by individual drivers.

Many trucking companies employ their own drivers but use independent contractors to handle overflow business. And the new AB5 Law just made this illegal in California. 

This is bad news for drivers who just bought their own trucks. Owner/operators spend tens of thousands of dollars on a truck to not be someone’s employee and to work for themselves. Now their trucks will be useless unless they want to become their own trucking company. The problem with this is that owner/operators would have to book their own loads, which can get complicated.

There are predictions that many independent truck drivers will leave California. Which will only make the supply chain and inflation problems worse.

Some speculate that AB5 was always intended to force independent truck drivers into employment. If they work for their trucking company, they are easier to unionize.

Now that it is law, no one seems to know how it will be enforced or who will enforce it.  But there isn’t much time to figure that out. By court order, it is supposed to go into effect seven days from last Thursday.

Written by Gentry DeWinter

Gentry graduated from Grand Valley with a Bachelor’s Degree in multi-media journalism. She is an artist who loves videography, and writing, and hopes to one day own multiple dogs.

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