CA Meal & Rest Periods For Truck Drivers Struck Down

Food and rest period breaks for California truck drivers have recently been made a little easier to work with, at least within the confines of the schedules required for transport drivers. The new regulation allows for the preemption of existing meal and break periods for motorists to take their 30-minute meal break after eight hours of driving rather than the standard five hours previously required. Under the exemption guidelines, operators can take a break when it makes sense to, instead of having to pull off and take a meal or rest period after five hours of drive time, maximum.

*The exemption only applies to truck motorists, which the U.S. Department of Transportation regulates.

The ruling comes after the FMCSA determined that the meal and rest break rules in California are not consistent with federal laws. The changes come as the FMCSA ruled that the existing laws do not provide any additional safety measures or outcomes and that they may actually create unnecessary obstacles that would inhibit interstate commerce. Because of the “unreasonable burden” created by the implementation of the California law, it was deemed unenforceable.

The appeal was filed by the American Trucking Associations in conjunction with the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association, both of which claimed that the meal and rest break rules (MRB) for California proposed unreasonable parameters that would inhibit drivers' productivity while providing no additional safety or benefit to consumers.

The California Rules

Under the previous rules, California drivers had to take a 30-minute break for every five hours worked and a 15-minute paid break every four hours. Failure to meet these criteria meant that employers had to pay an extra hour of work for the infraction, which could quickly become costly in terms of both time and money.

The petition filed against the existing law argued that the rules caused a productivity loss of 3% for drivers in California compared to those in other states, effectively forcing those companies to pass on the cost of productivity loss to the consumer.

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Commercial Trucking & The California Compliance Problem

One of the main issues with the exemption is that it’s very difficult to prove compliance, which is an issue that courts have been wrangling with for some time. Part of the problem is that there have been issues with truck drivers and California laws for some time—something that speaks both to the forward-looking approach of state lawmakers, as well as the fact that many in the industry see some California laws as excessively restrictive when it comes to getting their job done.

Rest Period & Meal Break Resources

FMCSA Break Ruling - The official ruling from the FMCSA regarding California meal and break periods, including the full-text document and information about who to contact if you have questions.

U.S. Department of Transportation - A great resource for staying current on all the latest news, laws, and regulations affecting the conveyance industry. If there’s big news or changes in the works, you’ll find out about them here.