Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634029
Logbook February 2016 | Overdrive | 25 XPO drayage carriers face misclassification suit Truck operators for three drayage carriers owned by XPO Logistics have filed a class action lawsuit seek- ing payment over alleged misclas- sification as contractors instead of employees, which led to lower wages and denial of state-mandated breaks, plaintiffs claim. Troy Cooper, XPO Logistics chief operating officer, said the suit is with- out merit. "[We] plan to litigate it vigorously," Cooper said. "We are in constant dialogue with our independent-con- tractor carriers and believe the vast majority of them value the significant benefits that operating independently can bring." The three XPO subsidiaries named as defendants include Pacer Cartage, PDS Transportation and Harbor Rail Transport/Intermodal Container Services. Truck driver Lopez Horacio is the case's lead plaintiff. The suit joins a myriad of both on- going and settled litigation surround- ing the independent contractor model, used frequently in port operations sim- ilar to that of the three XPO Logistics drayage carriers involved in the case. However, port-serving carriers aren't the only ones entangled in independent contractor model disputes: FedEx agreed to a $228 million settlement with thousands of California-based drivers last year, and judges in recent years have sided with drivers in cases against Penske and Affinity Logistics. Amazon drivers also have filed a suit claiming they're misclassified as contractors. – James Jaillet A MAN WAS SENTENCED to 18 months in prison for his role in a widespread fraudulent commercial driver's license testing scheme in New York. In October 2013, Luc Desmangles and 10 others were charged with conspiracy to unlawfully produce identification docu- ments. In July 2015, Desman- gles and four others were found guilty of all charges; the other six that were charged all had pleaded guilty. Dependability. We've made it affordable since 1892. Copyright © 2015 MNA, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No matter where you've traveled, Uniroyal ® tires have been there. Families have trusted Uniroyal value for more than 120 years, and now we're bringing that same value to the trucking industry. Truckers deserve a tire that works as hard as they do, at an affordable price. That's why we're introducing a line of Uniroyal commercial truck tires. Visit uniroyaltrucktires.com to learn more. 15MTT10144-1/2H 15MTT10144-1/2H 3864_15MTT10144UniroyalUSAd_OD.indd 1 12/16/15 10:38 AM Untitled-30 1 1/14/16 8:32 AM