{"id":8611,"date":"2021-01-25T13:22:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T21:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/higgslaw.local\/?p=8611"},"modified":"2021-01-27T13:55:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T21:55:59","slug":"the-ninth-circuit-tells-california-its-meal-and-rest-break-rules-are-preempted-by-the-fmcsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/higgslaw.com\/the-ninth-circuit-tells-california-its-meal-and-rest-break-rules-are-preempted-by-the-fmcsa\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ninth Circuit Tells California its Meal and Rest Break Rules are Preempted by the FMCSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our HFM Transportation department has received many inquiries from our motor carrier clients concerning compliance with meal and rest break rules for over-the-road drivers.\u00a0 Are they to follow California law or Federal law?\u00a0 We may finally be able to provide a definitive answer (at least for now).<\/p>\n

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours-of-service rules preempt<\/em> California\u2019s meal and rest break rules when it comes to interstate trucking operations.\u00a0\u00a0 The opinion, available here<\/a>, confirms the FMCSA\u2019s December 2018 determination that drivers involved in interstate commerce are exempt from California\u2019s meal and rest break rules because California rules conflict with Federal hours-of-service regulations.<\/p>\n

The opinion is important because it provides clarity for national motor carriers operating across the United States, who rightfully balked at the prospect of complying with a state-by-state patchwork of meal and rest break rules for interstate drivers.\u00a0 Instead, the three-judge 9th<\/sup> Circuit panel confirmed that \u201cIn this case, the FMCSA determined that federal law pre-empts California\u2019s meal-and-rest-break rules, as applied to drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles who are subject to the FMCSA\u2019s own rest break regulations.\u201d\u00a0 Although the Supreme Court is not shy of reversing the 9th<\/sup> Circuit, we would not expect a reversal from the highest court on this ruling affirming the FMCSA\u2019s power to regulate interstate commerce.<\/p>\n

We note that this opinion applies only to motor carriers involved in inter<\/strong>state commerce, and that motor carriers running purely intra<\/strong>state operations are not affected by this ruling.\u00a0 Intrastate carriers will likely need to abide by California\u2019s stricter meal and rest break rules.\u00a0 However, whether a commercial motor vehicle is operating in \u201cinterstate\u201d vs. \u201cintrastate\u201d commerce is not as straight forward as whether one crosses a state line, and we recommend obtaining appropriate legal guidance if you have questions.<\/p>\n

HFM\u2019s industry-leading Transportation and Employment departments are available to answer any questions you have on this important ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our HFM Transportation department has received many inquiries from our motor carrier clients concerning compliance with meal and rest break rules for over-the-road drivers.\u00a0 Are they to follow California law or Federal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-firm-articles","practice-transportation-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ninth Circuit Tells California its Meal and Rest Break Rules are Preempted by the FMCSA | Higgs Fletcher & Mack\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our HFM Transportation department has received many inquiries from our motor carrier clients concerning compliance with meal and rest break 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