The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration denied a request by a group of motor carriers asking that the agency declare that California's meal and rest break regulations are pre-empted by federal law because they're incompatible with hours of service regulations.


According to the American Trucking Associations, the motor carriers wanted FMCSA to use its authority to pre-empt state commercial motor vehicle safety laws that are incompatible with the federal safety regulatory scheme.

The petitioners argued that while the meal and rest break regulations themselves were not safety related, they were nevertheless pre-empted because they conflicted with and were incompatible with the federal hours-of-service regulatory system. FMCSA, however, concluded that only state laws that are actually directed at commercial motor vehicle safety are within the scope of their pre-emption authority.

You can download a pdf of the decision here: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-30570.pdf