Employment; FLSA

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Employment; FLSA

Interstate school bus drivers are exempt from overtime wages under the FLSA.

“Almy’s reading is at odds with the Motor Carrier Act’s plain language and structure. First, the section giving the Secretary of Transportation power to set maximum hours explicitly applies to transportation ‘described n sections 13501 and 13502 of this title.’ 49 U.S.C. § 31502(a)(1). Congress thus authorized the Secretary to set maximum driving hours for all transportation described in two specific sections of the Motor Carrier Act, without including the limitations listed in later sections, such as 13505 and 13506. Indeed, § 31502 actually refers to one set of limitations—§ 13502, which exempts certain transportation between Alaska and other states—but not to any other statutory exemptions.

See Walters, 575 F.3d at 1232. Second, the structure of the Motor Carrier Act supports this reading: the act is divided into two subtitles of Title 49, the U.S. Transportation Code, one of which generally contains the Department of Transportation’s economic regulations (Subtitle IV), and the other its safety regulations (Subtitle VI). Sections 13501 to 13508 provide the scope
of jurisdiction for the economic regulations, not the safety regulations. Joining with our sister circuits, we hold that the exemption listed in 49 U.S.C. § 13506(a)(1) does not divest the Secretary of Transportation of the power to set maximum driving hours for interstate school bus drivers.”

Affirmed.

13-1273 Almy v. Kicker School Bus Line, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Dow, J., Per Curiam.

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