January 19, 2021 Court upholds trucking’s exemption to Calif. break laws A high-level federal court has sided with the U.S. DOT in exempting trucking companies from California state laws that required motor carriers to provide paid rest breaks and regular meal breaks to truck operators. The regs had since 2014 been the source of litigation against trucking companies operating in the state who had not provided those breaks to drivers. However, in December 2018, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration intervened, granting a petition filed by the American Trucking Associations asking for a waiver from the regs for interstate carriers. ATA argued that the California laws interfered with federal hours of service regulations and thus were superseded by federal regs, according to the 1996 Federal Aviation Administration Act. FMCSA pointed to the 1996 FAAAA as its justification for the waiver.