By Yaron Tilles

Under California law, non-exempt employees are entitled to one unpaid 30-minute meal period and two paid 10-minute rest breaks during a typical 8-hour shift. However, California’s meal and rest break rules (“MRB rules”) do not apply to interstate truck drivers.

If you’re asking yourself why truck drivers do not get the benefits of California’s more generous meal and rest break rules, the answer is federal preemption.

Background

The Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 empowers the Secretary of Transportation to “prescribe regulations on commercial motor vehicle safety,” including regulations ensuring “the responsibilities imposed on operators of commercial motor vehicles do not impair their ability to operate the vehicles safely.” (49 U.S.C. § 31136(a).) The Secretary delegated its rulemaking and preemption authority to the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

In 2011, the FMCSA revised the federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations and adopted the rules on breaks for truck drivers including one 30-minute rest break for every eight hours worked. This break requirement supplemented longstanding federal regulations prohibiting a driver from operating a commercial motor vehicle if too fatigued or unable to safely drive.

Preemption (Federal Law v. California Law)

The HOS regulations on breaks and California’s MRB rules are very different. On the one hand, California’s Wage Order 9-2001, which applies to “all persons employed in...

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