In California last Friday, March 15th, a judge made an important decision regarding trucking and a law called AB 5. The judge said no to the trucking industry’s request to stop the state from enforcing AB 5. Instead, the judge suggested that truckers should try to change the law through the government, not the courts.

AB 5 has been in place in California since January 2020. Trucking groups have been unhappy about it from the start. This law sets rules for how workers are classified, especially if they’re independent contractors. It also stops a common way truckers work, where they lease their trucks from a company.

One big part of AB 5 is something called the ABC test. For a worker to be an independent contractor, they must meet all three parts of this test. The part that causes trouble for truckers is the “B” part. It says the work the trucker does must be different from what the company normally does.

Last Friday, Judge Roger Benitez, who had previously helped truckers in this case, said no to the trucking groups’ request to stop AB 5. This decision disappointed the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which disagreed with the judge. The California Trucking Association (CTA) hasn’t said anything yet.

A law firm that knows about transportation law said CTA might try to appeal the judge’s decision, but until then, AB 5 stays in effect.

Judge Benitez explained that he had stopped AB 5 before because he thought it conflicted with another federal law. But an appeals court disagreed, saying AB 5 was okay. So, trucking groups asked him to stop AB 5 again.

They said AB 5 creates problems because it’s different from federal laws and because it affects truckers who work in different states. But Judge Benitez said there’s no federal law that says truckers must be independent contractors.

Trucking groups also argued that AB 5 hurts businesses that work in more than one state. But Judge Benitez disagreed again. He said Congress, the people who make federal laws, isn’t worried about this.

Another argument was that AB 5 goes against a part of the Constitution called the Dormant Commerce Clause, which says states can’t make laws that stop business between states. But Judge Benitez said AB 5 doesn’t break this rule because it treats everyone the same, no matter where they’re from.

Lastly, trucking groups said AB 5 goes against the Equal Protection Clauses in the U.S. and California Constitutions. They said the people who made AB 5 were against trucking companies. But Judge Benitez said one person’s opinion doesn’t speak for everyone who voted for the law.

In the end, Judge Benitez said the court isn’t the place to change laws like AB 5. He said if people don’t like it, they should use their voices and their votes to change it.