Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in Madero v. McLane Foodservice, a case on whether drivers are subject to the overtime exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act. This case, like many others in the trucking industry, involves whether McLane drivers operating within California are exempt from overtime requirements under the FLSA because they are subject to the FMCSA's driver hours of service requirements.

The main question is whether the drivers operate in interstate commerce and are therefore subject to the federal hours of service regulations. The case was brought as a class action on behalf of a class of 90 drivers. The trial court found that even though McLane's drivers operated solely within California, they were part of an interstate supply chain that brought food into the state from McLane's distribution centers in other states and then was delivered to customers in California. The plaintiff drivers appealed.

These "continuity of movement" cases typically resolve in favor of the motor carrier, as the courts have long recognized that a single state movement either before or after an interstate move establishes that the driver is in interstate commerce even if the driver never crossed a state line.