The drivers stayed in Illinois – the court said their cargo didn't
Intrastate shuttle drivers at a Ford assembly plant are not entitled to overtime pay, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on April 2, 2026, sided with trucking companies Laci Transport Inc. and Bosman Trucking, Inc., affirming that shuttle truck drivers who never left Illinois were still part of an interstate commerce chain – and therefore exempt from overtime under federal law.
The consolidated cases, Stingley v. Laci Transport Inc. and Johnson v. Bosman Trucking, Inc., centered on a group of current and former drivers who hauled auto parts and custom shipping containers between Ford-controlled storage lots and Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant on South Torrence Avenue. The parts were manufactured at plants outside Illinois, shipped into the state by interstate carriers, and temporarily parked at nearby storage lots until the Assembly Plant needed them. The shuttle drivers then moved the trailers the final leg – entirely on Illinois roads – to the plant. After unloading, they drove the trailers back to the lots, where interstate carriers eventually retrieved them and returned them to out-of-state factories for reuse.
The drivers argued they deserved overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, and the Chicago Minimum Wage Law. Their employers had not paid overtime wages for hours exceeding 40 in a workweek. The trucking...
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