Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

California’s AB 5 labor law survives latest legal challenge

California Trucking Association and OOIDA may appeal, but law remains on the books in the meantime

gavel photo-1589391886645-d51941baf7fb.webp

California’s AB 5 law that classifies many truck drivers in the state as employees rather than independent contractors will continue to stand after a judge on Friday rejected the latest attempt by the California Trucking Association (CTA) and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) to overturn it.

Specifically, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California denied the CTA’s claims that California’s “Assembly Bill 5” test for worker status determination cannot be enforced against the trucking industry.


As a result, the trucking industry will remain subject to AB 5 just as it has been ever since the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the subject in June 2022, according to a statement from transportation industry law firm Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff.

The outcome is a win for California’s Attorney General and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which had opposed the trucking industry’s warning that enforcement of the law could lead to higher costs and less capacity.

Additional appeals may follow in the future, but they have not yet been filed, according to a note from transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary. “The district court judge was sympathetic to the disruptions and burdens AB 5 places on the trucking industry. However, he indicated it was better left to the legislature to remedy the problem. We anticipate CTA will appeal the decision, but there will be no relief from AB 5 in the meantime,” the firm said.

An appeal could also come from OOIDA, which said on Monday that it was still exploring options. "OOIDA disagrees with Judge Benitez's ruling and the reasoning behind it and is exploring all options moving forward -- including an appeal," the association said in an email.

Editor's note: This article was revised on March 18 to add input from OOIDA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent

More Stories

warehouse worker pulling cart

Cleo acquires DataTrans to speed procurement automation

Business software vendor Cleo has acquired DataTrans Solutions, a cloud-based procurement automation and EDI solutions provider, saying the move enhances Cleo’s supply chain orchestration with new procurement automation capabilities.

According to Chicago-based Cleo, the acquisition comes as companies increasingly look to digitalize their procurement processes, instead of relying on inefficient and expensive manual approaches.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photo collage of warehouse tech

Supply chain pros are wary of inflation and labor woes

The top worries that supply chain leaders hope to address with new innovations this year include inflationary concerns (68%) and labor shortages (50%), according to a survey on innovation from the third-party logistics provider (3PL) Kenco.

And many of them will have a budget to do it, since 51% of supply chain professionals with existing innovation budgets saw an increase earmarked for 2025, suggesting an even greater emphasis on investing in new technologies to meet rising demand, Kenco said in its “2025 Supply Chain Innovation” survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
photos of white house and a loaded containership

Supply chain groups push back on Trump tariff plan

Industry groups across the spectrum of supply chain operations today are pushing back against the Trump Administration plan to apply steep tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, saying the additional fees are taxes that will undermine their profit margins, slow their economic investments, and raise prices for consumers.

Even as a last-minute deal today appeared to delay the tariff on Mexico, that deal is set to last only one month, and tariffs on the other two countries are still set to go into effect at midnight tonight.

Keep ReadingShow less
reagan national DCA airport photo

Reagan National airport plans to reopen today after deadly crash

All flights remained grounded this morning at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) following the deadly mid-air crash last night between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter.

In a statement, DCA airport officials said they would open the facility again today for flights after planes were grounded for more than 12 hours. “Reagan National airport will resume flight operations at 11:00am. All airport roads and terminals are open. Some flights have been delayed or cancelled, so passengers are encouraged to check with their airline for specific flight information,” the facility said in a social media post.

Keep ReadingShow less
wind turbine making electricity

GE Vernova to invest $600 million in U.S. manufacturing sites

GE Vernova today said it plans to invest nearly $600 million in its U.S. factories and facilities over the next two years to support its energy businesses, which make equipment for generating electricity through gas power, grid, nuclear, and onshore wind.

The company was created just nine months ago as a spin-off from its parent corporation, General Electric, with a mission to meet surging global electricity demands. That move created a company with some 18,000 workers across 50 states in the U.S., with 18 U.S. manufacturing facilities and its global headquarters located in Massachusetts. GE Vernova’s technology helps produce approximately 25% of the world’s energy and is currently deployed in more than 140 countries.

Keep ReadingShow less