There’s no question that the landscape of trucking will change as Version 2.0 of the Trump administration takes shape in Washington.
Many analysts believe hope is on the horizon following what could well be one of the longest-running economic downturns in the industry’s history.
As the Truckload Carriers Association and other industry organizations continue to push for change in federal laws and regulations, trucking stakeholders hope for improvements in the legal arena.
Recently we had a chance to visit with the team at Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, P.C., about some of the top legal issues facing motor carriers today. Their Top 5 concerns, in no particular order, include the following:
Accident Liability
“The trucking industry continues to be in the grips of a relentless trend of excessive verdicts in accident liability cases,” said Prasad Sharma, a partner at Scopelitis.
“A combination of aggressive plaintiffs’ attorneys’ tactics, impassioned juries and failure to keep out testimony and evidence that is more prejudicial than it is relevant to, or probative of, the cause of an accident has led to more frequent excessive or disproportionate verdicts,” he continued.
According to Sharma, the increased frequency of such verdicts makes it riskier to try cases and, in turn, drives up settlement amounts. In addition, he says, plaintiffs’ attorneys may refer clients to medical providers for unnecessary — and overpriced — treatment following an accident.
In addition, he notes, some attorneys resort to “anchoring” tactics — planting a number or formula for damages in the minds of the jury that is “divorced from any economic calculation.”
“Carriers are facing a difficult legal environment that has translated to ever-increasing insurance costs,” he said.
“Fortunately, the last couple of years have seen the trucking industry make progress in fighting back with civil justice reform measures that seek to bend the curve, and 2025 promises to be another active year for civil justice reform measures in state legislatures throughout the country,” he concluded.
Independent Contractor Classification
In recent years, the independent contractor (IC) business model has come under fire, both at the state and federal level. Many in trucking fear that a Biden-era ruling will effectively force companies to classify owner-operators as company employees.
Greg Feary, a partner at Scopelitis, believes IC classification will remain a top issue in trucking this year.
“We are likely to see the U.S. Department of Labor return to the more entrepreneur-centric view of owner-operators in trucking as compared to the Biden-era Independent Contractor Test rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (aka the ‘Biden Rule’),” he said.
The path back to the 2020 Trump rule is most likely through one of the five pending court challenges to the Biden Rule, which Feary says should face less opposition under the Trump Administration.
“(However), we already see evidence of activity at the state level with California’s multiple portable benefits bills and Iowa’s transportation network company initiative,” he noted. “While these state law efforts are at the periphery of the trucking misclassification legal agenda, they signal that focus remains on the issue in the transportation space.”
Feary points to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemeer to lead the Department of Labor as a sign that the administration could take a more pro-union tack than during his first term.
“Tension remains at both the state and federal level, albeit the threat of the proliferation of pro-employment ABC test at either level remains lower during this current legal environment,” he said.
Potential FMCSA Regulatory Changes
Changes at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and its agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), are also top of mind, says Chris Eckhart, a partner at Scopelitis.
“The FMCSA could potentially issue proposed rulemakings or procedures on a number of important issues (this year),” he said, pointing to previously proposed changes to the agency’s Safety Measurement System used to identify carriers for safety interventions.
Similarly, Eckhart says, the agency is considering changes to the safety fitness determination procedure. In addition, the FMCSA announced modifications to its crash preventability determination program that should start in 2025.
Finally, he says, the FMCSA previously indicated it was considering implementing a formal appeal process for requests for data review (Data Qs).
“Under the proposal, eligible Data Qs could be appealed to FMCSA if they ‘pertain to significant matters of legal interpretation or implementation of enforcement policies or regulations,’” Eckhart said, adding that it’s possible the FMCSA could finalize the appeals process in 2025.
Drug and Alcohol Testing Issues
Motor carriers could face legal challenges regarding drug and alcohol testing in 2025, particularly with the evolving landscape of state laws and federal regulations, Eckhart says.
“One key issue is the interplay between state laws that prohibit adverse action against employees for off-duty marijuana use and the DOT Drug and Alcohol Regulations,” he said. “Although the DOT Drug and Alcohol Regulations prohibit any marijuana, they technically do not require motor carriers to terminate the driver’s employment if the driver completed a substance abuse program and the return-to duty-process.”
Some carriers also drug test drivers who operate mid-size commercial motor vehicles. While these drivers aren’t subject to the DOT’s drug and alcohol regulations, under 49 C.F.R. Part 391, they can’t qualify physically if they test positive for marijuana.
“Carriers who terminate non-CDL drivers for testing positive for marijuana may face legal challenges under state law,” Eckhart said. “The Department of Justice’s recent decision to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act could further impact these issues.”
Broker Issues
According to Sharma, many motor carriers also maintain property broker operations — and as plaintiff’s attorneys continue to seek additional sources of money in accident cases, property brokers are all too frequently named in litigation. These claims are often under theories that the broker negligently hired or retained the carrier involved in the accident.
There has been some success in defending such state law claims as being preempted under a federal deregulatory statute, 49 U.S.C. 14501(c) (also known as the FAAAA). The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits have found such claims preempted, he says. However, the Ninth Circuit found that they are not; such claims fall within a safety regulatory exception to preemption.
“The Supreme Court has turned down the opportunity to resolve this difference in opinion, including just this past January,” Sharma said. “We will be watching the other Courts of Appeals to see how they decide this important issue and whether the Supreme Court will ultimately decide the issue.”
In addition, he notes, to the chagrin of many brokers, the FMCSA has threatened to dive back into the pool of economic regulation with a proposed rule on broker transparency. The comment period for the proposal closed in late January.
As it stands at the time of this writing, brokers are required to keep records of transactions that include the amount paid to the broker and the amount the broker pays the carrier. Both the shipper and the carrier have the right to review the records — but that right is often waived in the broker’s contracts.
“The FMCSA has proposed making it a non-waivable regulatory obligation to disclose such information within 48 hours of a request by a carrier or a shipper,” Sharma said. “If FMCSA’s dive back into economic regulation is finalized, brokers will have to revisit their agreements to better protect their shipper clients’ confidential information.”
This story appeared in the March/April 2025 edition of Truckload Authority, the official publication of the Truckload Carriers Association.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been in publishing for more than 30 years. You name it, Linda has written about it. She has served as an editor for a group of national do-it-yourself publications and has coordinated the real estate section of Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper, in addition to working on a variety of niche publications ranging from bridal magazines to high-school sports previews and everything in between. She is also an experienced photographer and copy editor who enjoys telling the stories of the “Knights of the Highway,” as she calls our nation’s truck drivers.
