Doing a search on the word “trucking” embedded in comments on the Department of Labor’s proposed independent contract rule results mostly in criticisms of the proposal, but it’s far from unanimous.
Most of the comments to the rule read by FreightWaves had the same basic thrust: The independent owner-operator model as it stands today in the U.S. has been profitable and led to financial success for its practicioners but is threatened by the proposed rule that would guide decisions by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.
But there are dissenting voices as well.
When a proposed rule is listed in the Federal Register and a comment period is opened, there often are submissions that are written by a third party and then submitted multiple times, verbatim, by different commenters.
That is the case with the DOL rule as well. “Employers are increasingly misclassifying workers as gig workers in order to avoid their responsibilities on everything from employer-sponsored health insurance to paying employer contributions toward Social Security,” according to a comment that was seen in multiple filings. “At a time when corporations are raking in record profits while workers’ wages remain flat, it’s critical that the Department of Labor implement policies that support workers’ rights and put more money into the pockets of working people.”
But within those submissions might also be personal stories.
For example, a commenter named Phillip Hult of Illinois who submitted...
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