Opinion: Trucking and the New Administration
By Gregory Feary
Managing Partner
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, PC
This Opinion Piece appears in the Dec. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Election day has come and gone, and regardless of political persuasion, the optimist in each of us hopes President-elect Barack Obama’s administration heralds an uplifting and more positive era of government.
One can point to several initiatives that should help the country — and possibly the trucking industry — over the next four years. However, new initiatives often are mixed blessings.
For example, Obama’s focus on the highway system, over time, certainly will create a more efficient means to transport freight. In the short term, however, construction projects could create road congestion, draw qualified workers away from trucking and create a preference for rail transportation.
Yet, if this shift occurs, it could be to the intermodal segment’s benefit, and such construction projects may invigorate flatbed trucking, aggregate/bulk/dump hauling and other special hauling segments of the trucking industry.
Similarly, emphasis on alternative fuel sources, while costly to our industry, over time quite likely will reinvigorate the auto industry in the United States and abroad and also may re-energize other segments of the trucking industry.
We need to pause and contemplate the business environment in which trucking will operate over the next four years and the host of specific legislative initiatives we need to address, making trucking’s collective voice heard in Washington.
Labor and employment issues will loom particularly large for trucking under the new administration, and in many instances, our new president already has made his views known.
For example, as a senator in 2007, Obama sponsored the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act of 2007 (S. 2044), which would re-empower the Internal Revenue Service to assess taxes, penalties and interest against “employers” who have misclassified employees as independent contractors. At the same time, the bill would remove important aspects of a safe harbor for employers.
In 2008, Obama co-sponsored a similar bill, the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (S. 3648), which would place business owners in peril of substantial taxes and penalties for using independent contractors in circumstances under which it is less than crystal clear such contractors are not employees.
Similarly in November 2007, Obama wrote to the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., supporting their ports’ adoption of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan and noting, “Many of these truckers may be legally misclassified. Worker misclassification is an issue I have worked on at the federal level to remedy because it hurts workers and costs the taxpayer billions in uncollected taxes.”
The president-elect also co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041), which would eliminate the “secret-ballot election” on union representation.
Another bill, the RESPECT Act — Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers — would amend the National Labor Relations Act to redefine and limit who can be considered a “supervisor.” If passed, that act (H.R. 1644, S. 969) essentially would create additional employees who could be organized.
Still on the horizon are the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Civil Rights Act of 2008 and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. These bills share the noble purpose of attacking discriminatory practices by employers — but also broaden the concept of discrimination, creating greater uncertainty for business executives and potentially larger penalties for those making business decisions.
This message is not intended as a bleak prediction of a downward spiral for trucking, but rather a forecast of the substantial challenges we face.
In response, we must return to “Civics 101” and get involved — or even more involved — in the democratic system upon which this country was founded.
The record turnout of voters in the presidential election shows that, for a moment in time, many Americans were roused from apathy to cast a vote for change. Many of those same voters will fall back into passivity, believing positive change is now being handled by the Obama administration.
In reality, substantial change was inevitable regardless of who won the election, and it is incumbent upon each American to ensure that positive change in government occurs on a daily basis through vigilance, hard work and heavy lifting by civic-minded individuals — including those working in the trucking industry.
As trucking embarks on positive change, it is fortunate to be supported by a host of important industry organizations with proven ability, beginning with American Trucking Associations and its leader, Bill Graves. Trucking also is well-represented by the Truckload Carriers Association, the American Moving and Storage Association, the Truck Renting and Leasing Association, and many other groups representing specialty segments of transportation.
The trucking industry can be confident its voice will be heard in state legislatures through the efforts of the state trucking associations and their leaders.
While we indeed face challenges brought about by a new administration, trucking has proved amazingly adaptive to a vast system of rules, regulations and laws. Those in trucking are typically not Americans who awoke for a moment to cast a vote just for the sake of change. But it is now vital that we stay involved and continue the hard work required to ensure that our country and our industry secure the very needed positive change achievable over the next four years.
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary is a transportation law firm with offices in Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Kansas City, Kan.; Detroit and Washington, D.C. The author is based in Indianapolis.
