Heavy Duty Trucking, March 2020

WASHINGTON WATCH Entry level driver training rule compliance extended The new entry level driver training rule originally scheduled to go into effect Feb 7 now will have to wait another two years because the government needs more time to finish the registry of approved training providers The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration amended the final rule Minimum Training Requirements for Entry Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators to extend the compliance date from Feb 7 2020 to Feb 7 2022 FMCSA said this move is to give the agency additional time to complete development of the Training Provider Registry The TPR is a system that will allow commercial driver training providers to self certify that they meet the training requirements It will provide the electronic interface that will receive and store entry level driver training certification information from training providers and transmit that information to state driver license agencies The extension also provides state PHOTO GETTYIMAGES COM GK 6MT FMCSA says delay is needed to give it time to complete work on its Trainer Provider Registry Bill would limit owner operator use nationwide Business and trucking interests are criticizing a labor bill passed by the House of Representatives The legislation would rewrite how independent contractors are defined upending truckings use of owner operators Critics have called the Protecting the Right to Organize PRO Act a union wish list Perhaps of most concern to trucking is that its language mirrors that of Californias Assembly Bill 5 which set up an ABC test requiring workers to be considered employees rather than independent contractors unless they met all three prongs of the test The B prong of that test is regarded as extremely problematic for traditional trucking owner operator arrangements as it prohibits companies from using independent contractors unless the worker was performing work outside the usual course of the hiring entitys business As employees such workers could organize and join unions Independent contractors are prohibited by federal law from organizing AB5 which went into effect in California Jan 1 is under a court preliminary injunction from being enforced against the trucking industry while a California Trucking Association lawsuit is adjudicated CTA has argued that AB5 is preempted by federal law In a statement Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said The PRO Act will strengthen the National Labor Relations Act so that workers seeking to organize a union and negotiate higher licensing agencies time to modify their information technology systems and procedures as necessary to accommodate their receipt of driver specific ELDT data from the registry An earlier partial delay that was proposed would have affected only licensing agencies fleets were still going to need to comply In a statement FMCSA said it is delaying the entire final rule as opposed to a partial delay as proposed due to delays in implementation of the TPR that were not foreseen when the proposed rule was published The agency began work on this rulemaking back in 2007 but efforts to advance a rule to set standards for entry level driver training date trace back to the 1980s The rule was mandated by Congress under the MAP 21 highway bill passed in 2012 FMSCA said the rule was based in part on recommendations of the agencys Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee a negotiated rulemaking committee that held a series of meetings in 2015 Jack Roberts wages and better benefits will be protected The misclassification of workers is on the rise and too many working Americans are falling through the cracks The Teamsters have witnessed such behavior firsthand as XPO workers across the country try to organize with this union Im glad to see a majority of the House are standing with workers by allowing them to join together to negotiate on the job Critics however say in addition to the independent contractor issue the PRO Act would among other things Effectively nullify state right to work laws opposed by unions Currently 27 states have these laws which say privatesector employees cant be forced to join a union as a condition of employment Mandate employer recognition of a union if a majority sign pledge cards Critics of these card check campaigns charge that union organizers engage in high pressure tactics to get workers to sign Ban employment arbitration agreements Authorize secondary boycotts by unions of targeted employers The U S Chamber of Commerce contends that the PRO Act radically rewrites American labor policy and that it would deliberately eliminate basic rights for employers such as the fundamental right to have standing in representation cases before the National Labor Relations Board Deborah Lockridge HDT MARCH 2020 12 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM