Trucking companies in California breathed a sigh of relief on July 1, when a deadline passed without authorities changing trucking’s exemption from state work rules that would require overtime pay to drivers after an eight hour work day.

The law, passed in 1999, allowed California to go back to a daily overtime schedule instead of the weekly rules most states follow, and ordered the state Industrial Welfare Commission to examine all overtime exemptions, including the one applying to truck drivers. Gov. Gray Davis signed what is known as the "Eight Hour Day" Bill in July of last year.
To protect the long-standing exemption, the representatives from the California Trucking Association stayed on top of the issue by participating in each of the IWC's public hearings, which were held once a month since November. "Our General Counsel went to every hearing," said Warren Hoemann, CTA vice president. "We had to make our presence known."