Drivers Strike Against XPO Logistics in Latest Misclassification Fight

RYAN ZUMMALLEN
JUNE 19, 2017

Every day Jose Herrera picks up his Kenworth T600 truck from a rented lot in Moreno Valley, Calif., and fights traffic on the 60 Freeway to the office of his employer, XPO Logistics, 70 miles away in Commerce.

The commute puts wear and tear on the vehicle, leads to pricey fuel bills and accelerates the maintenance schedule. But Herrera doesn’t have a choice. XPO, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, doesn’t allow drivers who own their trucks to park overnight at that location, he said.

“You have to spend more money to keep the truck going,” Herrera said.

Herrera was one of about a dozen drivers on a picket line in front of the XPO office Monday. The strike involves more than 150 drivers at XPO’s Commerce location, said Santos Castaneda, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is lending support. Drivers also struck at XPO locations in nearby Rancho Dominguez and farther south in San Diego.

It’s the latest effort from drivers to put pressure on shipping companies in the ongoing nationwide dispute over driver claims that they are misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees of the company. Monday’s strike is the 15th at Los Angeles ports in the last four years.

“There has been no impact to customers,” said Erin Kurtz, a spokesperson for XPO.

“We know firsthand that the majority of owner-operators prefer to work as independent contractors, and we will continue to advocate for their right to do so,” XPO said in a statement.

Truckers have filed more than 800 employee misclassification wage claims since 2011 and have been awarded about $40 million over 300 cases, according to the California Labor Commissioner’s office. About 200 cases are still pending, according to the state agency.

(Read More)

Labor activism challenges dominant drayage business model

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor
Feb 17, 2016 5:47PM EST

The recent decision by Hub Group to discontinue its employee-based drayage operation in Southern California is the latest event in a tug of war between the independent contractor model of trucking and the employee model that is likely to continue for some time to come and the result will impact costs for shippers.

Drayage companies nationwide, and especially in California, face increasing pressure from state and federal regulators to re-classify their owner-operator drivers as employees. So-called misclassification lawsuits, some filed by drivers on their own, some supported by the Teamsters union, have resulted in a handful of companies shifting to the employee model.

(Read More)