We are once again delighted to present our annual survey of what is new in the field of transportation law. This year's review is 40 pages covering 26 topics with links to relevant cases.
You can begin to read below and click the link below to open the full newsletter.
1. Truck Drivers – Employees or Independent Contractors?
In an oral argument held in November, 2008, a creative young lawyer named Ted Cruz, who has since gone on to bigger things, helped convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the drivers for his client Federal Express were not employees but rather independent contractors with no rights to collective bargaining. The primary basis for the court's ultimate holding was the entrepreneurial possibilities open to the drivers – they were permitted to operate multiple routes by hiring additional drivers and helpers. 563 F.3d 492 (2009).
FedEx has since tried to duplicate its success in courts around the country but those efforts have met with opposition from drivers and unions, and they received a thumbs down from courts around the country in 2014.
This is just one of the issues covered in this year's Annual Review. Click here to open this year's newsletter.