• Certain transportation employees do not qualify for FLSA overtime provisions, including salary bases and time and one-half pay.
• Organizations should only classify employees directly involved in the safety of operation as exempt.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows certain employees to be exempt from the requirements for overtime, minimum wage, or both. According to the FLSA, the overtime provisions do not apply to any employee to whom the Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service under The Motor Carrier Act. This allows an exemption from overtime for certain employees of motor carriers, but it does not allow an exemption from the minimum wage requirements.

Unlike the so-called “white-collar” exempt categories under 29 CFR Part 541 (Defining And Delimiting The Exemptions For Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees) the motor carrier exemptions do not have a “salary basis” requirement. For instance, drivers may be paid hourly, by the mile, by the trip, or by some other method of compensation. They are not entitled to a minimum salary and (like non-exempt employees) are only entitled to wages for the time spent working.

Although the exemption does not require overtime, this doesn’t mean employees don’t get paid for any time beyond 40 hours per week. It simply means they don’t get time and one-half. For example, if an exempt driver is paid by the mile, and spends 43 hours per week driving, they still get their standard rate for all drive time, but they don’t get “mile and one-half” compensation for the overtime hours.

Who should this exemption apply to?

This exemption can be applied to a driver, driver’s helper, loader, or mechanic who is employed by a carrier and whose duties affect the safety of operation of motor vehicles in the transportation on public highways of passengers or property in interstate or foreign commerce. Where the employee’s duties have no substantial direct effect on “safety of operation,” the exemption will not apply.

The overtime pay exemption does not apply to employees of non-carriers such as commercial garages, firms engaged in the business of maintaining and repairing motor vehicles owned and operated by carriers, or firms engaged in the leasing and renting of motor vehicles to carriers.

An employer should use caution to avoid applying this overtime exemption to employees who are not engaged in “safety affecting activities”, such as dispatchers, office personnel, those who unload vehicles, or those who load but are not responsible for the proper loading of the vehicle. Only drivers, driver’s helpers, loaders who are responsible for proper loading, and mechanics can be exempt.

The regulations at 29 CFR Part 782, Exemption From Maximum Hours Provisions For Certain Employees Of Motor Carriers, contain the specific requirements.