LOS ANGELES —With his truck parked waiting for loads, Todd Ellis ambles up to other drivers — especially newcomers — to shoot the breeze and talk shop. He senses their panic.
Uncertainty is rife in these Long Beach and Los Angeles ports, a doorway for a full third of containerized goods coming into the country. The drivers Ellis reaches out to are independent operators who own or lease their trucks, and their fate has been shaken by California’s new AB5 law, which took effect in June and makes it difficult for companies to continue (mis)classifying drivers as independent operators, rather than employees.
What’s unclear, however, is when and how California will enforce AB5, which could affect as many as 70,000 truckers.
The trucking firms say AB5 erases these drivers’ independence and could lower their earnings. Independent drivers are worried they’ll be forced into becoming low-wage employees. They’re reluctant to hear about how becoming a full-time hire and a Teamster changed the life of Ellis and his family: “I’ll say, ‘Hey bro, you’ll realize what it is when you can take your kid [to the doctor.]’ ”
Ellis was an oil refinery worker and tank truck and long-haul driver until he wanted to be home for his wife and three daughters. Thinking he could make good money, he became an independent operator and leased a truck from a small trucking outfit. It didn’t work out.
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