### 7th Circuit Shields Shuttle Truckers from OT Pay
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that shuttle truck drivers ferrying auto parts between off-site storage lots and a Ford assembly plant qualify for the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) overtime exemption, even for intrastate hauls. This reverses lower court decisions and tosses out wage claims by drivers like Martaneze Johnson against Bosman Trucking and Laci Transport. No back pay for these short-haul runs.
The case ignited when drivers sued trucking firms, alleging they deserved time-and-a-half overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for shuttling parts around a Ford plant in Chicago. These weren’t long-haul interstate trips—just local legs from storage yards to the assembly line, all within Illinois. The drivers argued the MCA exemption, which strips OT for drivers under federal trucking oversight, didn’t apply to purely intrastate work.
The appeals court disagreed, holding the MCA covers these shuttle runs as part of a “practical continuity of movement” in interstate commerce. Judge Rovner explained that parts originated from out-of-state suppliers, sat briefly in local lots due to plant congestion, then rolled straight into Ford vehicles headed nationwide. Since the drivers’ work was tied to this broader interstate flow, federal rules exempt them from state OT mandates—regardless of crossing state lines on that specific leg.
For truckers and fleet owners, this is huge: it greenlights the MCA shield for urban shuttle ops feeding manufacturing giants like Ford, slashing overtime liability on “last-mile” intrastate hauls. Logistics pros can now confidently classify similar drivers as exempt, avoiding surprise lawsuits and payroll hikes.
**Bottom Line:** Intrastate shuttles feeding interstate supply chains dodge OT pay under MCA.
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10832069/martaneze-johnson-v-bosman-trucking-inc/
Got shuttle drivers in your fleet? How will this ruling hit your overtime budget?