Watch Now


Some California truckers exit state before AB5 labor law takes effect

Some California truckers weigh options before AB5 labor law takes effect on Jan. 1.

Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

After 43 years in California, truck drivers Brian Gray and his wife, Karol, packed up their belongings and headed to Oklahoma in early December after news that the new sweeping labor law, AB5, was set to take effect on Jan. 1.

“I once made a good living in California, but it’s all gone,” Brian Gray told FreightWaves. “I am tired of being persecuted in California for being a truck driver.”

With AB5, which seeks to limit the use of independent contractors, scheduled to become law, Gray said he headed to Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, to scout out some land and find a “business-friendly” state to house his flatbed company that hauls construction equipment.

“We bought a piece of ground in Oklahoma, but we hate to leave California,” he said. “I was always known as the ‘go-to guy’ in California and my mom and dad, brothers, nieces, everybody, still lives here, but I can’t afford to wait and see what happens in January and possibly lose everything.”


California-based truckers Brian and Karol Gray packed up all of their belongings and dogs and moved to Oklahoma ahead of AB5. Photo: Betty Plowman

California-based owner-operators said they are being advised to move out of the state, get their own authority, which can be costly, or transition to positions as company drivers, in some cases, as the Employee and Independent Contractors law, AB5, goes into effect.

The state law determines whether a worker is an employee or contractor. It stems from the California Supreme Court’s decision against Dynamex Operations West Inc., a package and document delivery company. The court found that Dynamex misclassified its delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees and that all California-based companies that use independent contractors must use the “ABC test,” a three-pronged test to determine whether a worker is an employee.


Trucking companies must prove a worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work; the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity.

Just days before the Jan. 1 deadline, the California Trucking Association, which has filed legal challenges against AB5, said it is receiving “daily calls from owner-operators being told they can no longer operate in California.”


“We know AB5’s impacts are already being felt,” Chris Shimoda, vice president of government affairs for CTA, told FreightWaves on Dec. 30.

The CTA filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against the implementation of AB5 on Dec. 24, and a hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6. Shimoda said a second hearing is set for Jan. 13 on a preliminary injunction motion the organization filed in early December to block AB5.

Some California-based truckers are unsure what advice to follow ahead of the AB5 implementation, as some mega-carriers cut ties with independent California drivers in mid-November.

“Unless the court grants the temporary restraining order and, ultimately, a preliminary injunction, AB5 is the enforceable law of the land and independent truckers will continue to be driven from California,” Shimoda said. 

Just one day before AB5 is set to take effect, Jeff Fink and his wife, Elyse, of Victorville, California, have narrowed their relocation search to three cities in Tennessee.

The Finks, team drivers for Long Haul Trucking of Albertville, Minnesota, said they don’t want to leave the carrier they are leased to, so they have no choice but to find a more trucker-friendly state to reside.

Jeff and Elyse Fink are trying to sell their home in California and are searching for a new place in Tennessee to comply with AB5. Photo: Elyse Fink

“We were called into the office three weeks ago and asked what we were going to do,” Jeff Fink told FreightWaves. “As of Jan. 1, I was told the company can’t dispatch me with loads leaving California if we still want to work for the company.”

Prior to the news that the state was enacting AB5, the Finks bought a 2020 Peterbilt Model 579 UltraLoft to comply with stringent California Air Resources Board (CARB) requirements.


“This new law is going to be a financial hardship for us if things don’t work out,” Fink said.”We made a large investment to comply with CARB and work in the state.”

The Finks’ mother-in-law currently lives in an assisted living facility about 110 miles from their home. Selling their place and moving to Tennessee, where they can also park their truck, was not a move they were ready to make ahead of AB5.

“My wife could drive down anytime she wanted to see her mom about 110 miles away, but that’s not going to be the case now as we are looking to move across the country to maintain our livelihood,” Fink said. “We spent the holiday weekend getting out house ready to sell.”

Once the owner of a four-truck fleet, Jimmy Nevarez, the owner of Angus Transportation Inc., based in Chino, California, is struggling to hang on to one owner-operator as the AB5 deadline looms.

“I have already lost half of my fleet, so this is devastating,” Nevarez told FreightWaves. 

He said he can’t pick up and move like some other California-based truckers because of his wife and daughters, 7 and 5, who love their schools and friends.

“I can’t just uproot my family, so I am looking for alternatives to keep my business running,” he said. “If I am forced to deadhead out of California to find loads, it will turn my business on its head.”

Less than two weeks before AB5 was slated to take effect, the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA) refiled its lawsuit challenging provisions in AB5 that specifically address construction trucking companies.

“A lot of truckers are sitting back to see what happens, but they need to figure out a solution soon as there is a lot of misinformation out there,” Joe Rajkovacz, head of government affairs for WSTA, told FreightWaves.

The WSTA lawsuit focuses on the state’s Labor Code section 2750.3, subdivision (f)(8), which does not utilize the ABC test.

“Given the unpredictability of the judicial system, a judge could rule narrowly in the CTA case in a manner that does not provide adequate relief for construction trucking companies,” WSTA stated in its complaint.

For motor carriers providing construction trucking services, AB5 provides no test whatsoever; rather, it mandates that workers are employees rather than independent contractors, according to the WSTA’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

According to court documents, AB5 “runs afoul of federal law which prohibits states from enacting or enforcing any law or regulation related to the price, route or service of a motor carrier.”

WSTA was the first trucking organization to challenge the original Dynamex decision back in 2018.

“These are interesting times for California-based truckers,” Rajkovacz said. “The state of California is trying to superimpose its will on the federal government, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.”

29 Comments

  1. Cheryl Lynch

    California is leaving itself open to driving every business they have out of state. Once truck drivers leave, many businesses will follow suit and leave the state. California is bound and determined to go bankrupt. What is wrong with these lawmakers?

  2. Noble1

    LOL at most of your comments wanting to leave California due to a law that is in the truck driver EMPLOYEE’S Favor to protect them from getting scammed buy unscrupulous employers .

    You complain about low wages , and then when a law comes through to protect you to make sure you get paid , you complain ??? LOL !

    I just found something that may interest you to know . You’ll be making immigrants very happy if you LEAVE California !

    Quote :

    Column One: Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway
    June 27, 2019

    Estimates of the number of Sikh truckers vary. In California alone, tens of thousands of truckers trace their heritage to India. The state is home to half of the Sikhs in the U.S. — members of a monotheistic faith with origins in 15th century India whose followers are best recognized by the uncut hair and turbans many men wear. At Sikh temples in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Riverside, the majority of worshipers are truck drivers and their families.

    Over the last decade, Indian Americans have launched trucking schools, truck companies, truck washes, trucker temples and no-frills Indian restaurants modeled after truck stops back home, where Sikhs from the state of Punjab dominate the industry.
    “You used to see a guy with a turban and you would get excited,” says Pal, who is in his 15th year of trucking. “Today, you go to some stops and can convince yourself you are in India.”
    End quote.

    LOL ! Apparently California is the New India , ROTFLMAO !

    You’re history anyways , they’re taking over your industry BIG TIME !

    Soon you’ll be washes dishes for them , LOL !

    In my humble opinion ……..

    1. Old school rules

      Your ignorance has been proven. Now everyone else knows they aren’t going to give you a raise to pay for taxes or workman’s comp.but they will lower your employment rate to the drivers cause the trucking rates don’t cover the cost now. So you do the math. The real problem is the rates and truckers not sticking together anymore to raise them. But these companies u see everyday going out of business will give the drivers all of that until they run out of money and leave 200 or more drivers stranded. Now there u have it

      1. Noble1

        That’s quite a perspective you have there .

        When business slows , it’s nothing new for some to respond with layoffs aka cutbacks . Some may also go bust .

        Rates and cutting wages should not be the only thing a trucking entity(business) depends upon too make a profit . A “Business” is not an employee .

        Concerning your point about truckers not sticking together anymore to raise wages/rates .

        EMPLOYEES can position themselves to join an ORGANIZED labour UNION in an attempt to negotiate better and or too improve wages and benefits etc .

        Truckers never really stuck together , THEY compete against one another . The only times in the past O/O’s really came together was in regards to some sort of dilemma generally concerning , ie: the price of FUEL . ORGANIZED LABOUR UNIONS on the other hand are a whole different story .

        To quote your last hypothesis :

        “But these companies u see everyday going out of business will give the drivers all of that until they run out of money and leave 200 or more drivers stranded.”

        Now you’re generalizing and exaggerating . Trucking companies that we have noticed that are going out of business is NOT due to taking care of their employees !

        -Some are going out of business due to not being able to absorb increasing costs while rates decrease based on their business model .

        -Some are going out of business due to mismanagement .

        -Some are going out of business due to enormous damage claims ,etc.

        In conclusion : Hypothesis REFUTED !

        In my humble opinion ………….

    1. Carl

      The people need to QUIT voting Democratic the have proved the are not for middle class nor working Americans only illegals and socialism. The don’t give a damn about you and your family if you’re an American. Look what they’re doing in Washington to the whole Country. Enough said. Stay out don’t haul in or out

Comments are closed.

Clarissa Hawes

Clarissa has covered all aspects of the trucking industry for 16 years. She is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative and business reporting. Before joining FreightWaves, she wrote for Land Line Magazine and Trucks.com. If you have a news tip or story idea, send her an email to [email protected].