The American Trucking Associations, joined by the Washington Trucking Associations, filed an amicus brief in support of a trucking company’s request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear its appeal of a Supreme Court of Washington decision that found that overtime for interstate drivers was to be based on both time worked inside and outside the state.
The ruling, which rejected nearly 20 years of administrative precedent that only in-state hours were to be included, rejected ATA and the trucking company’s claims that such a broad application of the law would violate the Commerce Clause and make it subject to preemption under the “rates, routes, and services” federal preemption provision.
In its amicus, ATA and WTA explained that the provision would require motor carriers to compute and pay overtime based on hours worked entirely outside of Washington, and thereby project the state’s overtime regulatory system into other states in violation of the Commerce Clause.
The Supreme Court is likely to announce before the end of the year whether it will hear the case.
