The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced it will consider petitions for waivers from the agency’s 2018 and 2020 determinations that California and Washington State’s break rules for commercial drivers were pre-empted by federal law.

In a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Aug. 14, FMCSA asked for waiver petitions to be submitted by Nov. 13. FMCSA will publish any petitions it receives and provide an opportunity for public comment.

As noted by the transportation attorneys at Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary in an Aug. 11 email alert, “Before the FMCSA preemption determinations, motor carriers frequently faced class actions seeking millions of dollars in penalties related to alleged meal and rest break violations in California and Washington.”

The notice explained that California and Washington would not need to demonstrate that the FMCSA made a mistake when it determined the laws were pre-empted. They need only to demonstrate that “the waiver is consistent with the public interest in the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles.” 

ATA: National Standard Needed

The American Trucking Associations swiftly condemned the action and vowed to “stop this in its tracks.”

“Ensuring a singular, national standard of work rules for professional drivers is crucial to both safety and the supply chain,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear in a statement.

“Congress first addressed this issue decades ago by passing F4A, and the USDOT’s authority to pre-empt state rules was unanimously reaffirmed in a 2021 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“Federal law already mandates rest breaks for drivers.

"Unnecessary and duplicative state laws are not grounded in safety and have been primarily enforced via private lawsuits designed to extort the trucking industry. Opening the door to this spurious litigation once again would impair the safe and efficient movement of interstate goods.

“ATA is fully prepared to oppose this effort that would result in a confusing patchwork of regulations. We will leverage all of our federation’s resources to stop this in its tracks.”

The Truckload Carriers Association also said it's against the idea of exemptions. In a statement from David Heller, TCA sernior vice president of safety and government affairs, he said the association "opposes any effort to institute the California and Washington state meal and rest break laws and supports the implementation of the federal rules pertaining to meal and rest breaks."

Teamsters Support FMCSA's Move

The Teamsters, however, issued a statement applauding FMCSA's move.

“FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson is taking steps in the right direction by accepting applications for waiver petitions,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “States should have the freedom to protect motorists and workers by implementing stronger meal and rest break requirements for professional drivers. This prevents tragedy — not just for commercial vehicle operators, but for everyone who uses our highways.”

What Meal-Break Waiver Petitions Should Include

The FMCSA requests that any waiver petition address the following issues:

1. Whether and to what extent enforcement of a state’s meal and rest break laws with respect to intrastate property-carrying and passenger-carrying CMV drivers has impacted the health and safety of drivers.

2. Whether enforcement of state meal and rest break laws as applied to interstate property-carrying or passenger-carrying CMV drivers will exacerbate the existing truck parking shortages and result in more trucks parking on the side of the road, whether any such effect will burden interstate commerce or create additional dangers to drivers and the public, and whether the applicant intends to take any actions to mitigate or address any such effect; and

3. Whether enforcement of a state’s meal and rest break laws as applied to interstate property-carrying or passenger-carrying CMV drivers will dissuade carriers from operating in that state, whether any such effect will weaken the resiliency of the national supply chain, and whether the applicant intends to take any actions to mitigate or address any such effect

“The FMCSA’s notice is particularly troubling as it appears to invite the states to opine that the non-enforcement of the meal and rest break laws has been detrimental to driver health and safety,” said Scopelitis. “Any such opinion would be directly contrary to the FMCSA’s prior determination that those laws did not provide any additional safety benefit over those provided by the hours of service regulations.”

Updated 8/15/23 to add TCA comment

Updated 8/16/23 to add Teamsters comment