Intermodal, trucking industries decry DOL rule on gig workers

The intermodal and trucking industries were among business organizations yesterday that blasted the U.S. Department of Labor's adoption of a final rule that requires companies to classify workers as employees rather than independent contractors.

The rule provides guidance on proper classification and seeks to combat employee misclassification, which is "a serious problem that impacts workers’ rights to minimum wage and overtime pay, facilitates wage theft, allows some employers to undercut their law-abiding competition and hurts the economy at-large," DOL officials said in a press release.

"Misclassifying employees as independent contractors is a serious issue that deprives workers of basic rights and protections," said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. "This rule will help protect workers, especially those facing the greatest risk of exploitation, by making sure they are classified properly and that they receive the wages they’ve earned."

But the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) said the new rule will hurt the intermodal freight industry by reducing service efficiency and reliability. It also will exacerbate the trucking industry's current shortage of qualified drivers, IANA officials said in a press release.

"For decades, the independent contractor business model has been widely favored by intermodal motor carriers and drivers. Although employee-driver positions are readily available, these owner-operator drivers explicitly chose the freedom, flexibility and independence that comes with small business ownership," said IANA President and CEO Joni Casey. "By maintaining control over their schedules, opportunities and business decisions, independent drivers are highly incentivized to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective services that contribute to our nation’s economic growth."

IANA and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) called on Congress to overturn the rule. The DOL's rule replaces a "clear and straightforward standard with a tangled mess that weakens our supply chain and undermines the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of truckers," said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear in a press release.