United States v. American Trucking Associations

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United States v. American Trucking Associations

Argued April 26, 1940
Decided May 27, 1940

Full case name:	United States, et al. v. American Trucking Associations, et al.

Citations:	310 U.S. 534; 60 S. Ct. 1059; 84 L. Ed. 1345; 1940 U.S. LEXIS 1049; 2 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P17,064

Prior history:	Judgment for plaintiffs by U.S. District Court

Holding

The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 does not empower the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate all employees of common and contract motor carriers, but rather only those whose duties affect safety of operation.

Court membership

Chief Justice: Charles Evans Hughes
Associate Justices: James Clark McReynolds, Harlan Fiske Stone, Owen Josephus Roberts, Hugo Black, Stanley Forman Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy

Case opinions

Majority by: Reed
Joined by: Black, Frankfurter, Douglas, Murphy
Dissent by: Stone
Joined by: McReynolds, Roberts, Hughes

Laws applied

Motor Carrier Act of 1935

United States v. American Trucking Associations, 310 U.S. 534 (1940), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case which marked a shift from evaluating the "plain meaning" of statutes to a judicial effort to determine "legislative intent."

American Trucking Associations had sought to compel the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate all employees of trucking industries, rather than simply those whose job has an impact on safety. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) included an exemption to employees regulated by the ICC under the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. By compelling the ICC to recognize all trucking employees as within its power to regulate, such employees would be exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA.

The court decided that ICC's interpretation of the statute, which limited its power only to those employees who have an impact on safety, was correct.