Federal bills aim to stop exploitation of port truckers

House Democrats will introduce two federal bills Thursday aimed at cracking down on port trucking companies that have for years exploited their workforce with lease-to-own contracts that forced drivers to work around the clock for pay that sometimes dipped to pennies on the hour.

The measures come in response to a USA TODAY Network investigation that revealed truckers were working as modern-day indentured servants while hauling goods for America’s retail giants.

The Port Drivers’ Bill of Rights Act of 2017 lays out basic work standards for port truckers, including fair pay, protection under labor laws, and freedom from “exploitative truck lease or rental arrangements,” according to a draft obtained by USA TODAY Network.

“For truck drivers to be treated fairly and paid fairly,” said Grace Napolitano, D-CA, one of the eight bill sponsors, “that’s a no-brainer.”

“We thought [the companies] would do it without legislation, but that hasn’t happened,” she said. “So we had to put it in writing.”

The proposed bill would also require federal regulators to deploy a task force to ports to investigate companies, analyze lease contracts and weed out employers taking advantage of their workers.

The bill marks the first federal attempt to protect port truckers and reign in their employers since California’s clean air initiative took hold five years ago. That law banned aging big rigs from the nation’s two largest ports, both in the Los Angeles area. Companies that move nearly half of America’s imports off the docks faced the prospect of buying 16,000 new trucks.

As the Network first reported in June, dozens of trucking companies in southern California avoided paying for new trucks by forcing their independent drivers into company-sponsored lease-to-own programs.

Drivers found themselves working as much as 20 hours a day for wages that sometimes dropped to pennies per hour after expenses. Some drivers worked a full week only to owe their boss money on payday.

“You’ve got the Trump administration saying, ‘They’re for the workers, they’re for the workers,’” said Jerrold Nadler, D-NY. “But what have they done besides screw the workers? We’ll see what they do now.”

Over the past year, the federal government has been rolling back regulation of the trucking industry. Lawmakers repealed safety rules aimed at keeping tired truckers off the highway in December. And last month Trump’s administration withdrew a proposed requirement to screen truck drivers for sleep disorders.  

But Democrats hope to present these new initiatives as worker-friendly reforms that will garner bipartisan support.

Nadler is the lead sponsor of a second bill announced Thursday. The Clean Ports Act of 2017 aims to loosen federal restrictions preventing cities from regulating port trucking companies. Retail companies and their trade groups have spent millions successfully lobbying to stop similar reforms in the past.

The trucking industry has long opposed local regulation that could invite changes to the independent contractor business.

Weston LaBar, president of the Harbor Trucking Association, warned against requiring companies to use employees instead of independent truckers, which he said could prevent hiring and stunt job growth. The American Trucking Association successfully sued the city of Los Angeles to prevent such a mandate in 2013.

“This needs to be a discussion on how to ensure fairness to both drivers and companies,” LaBar said in a statement.

Democrats say they they’re resurrecting the Clean Ports Act because the conditions of port drivers has worsened and gained national attention.

But no one expects the bill to pass easily in a Republican-led House that has largely panned labor protections for truckers in the past.

“It’s going to take a lot of people,” said freshman Nanette Barragán, another sponsor who also represents the Port of Los Angeles. “If this leads to a conversation, then I think that’s a good thing too.”