Overtime Pay for Truck Drivers
Your pay stub shows 50 hours and no overtime line. You drive a truck. The dispatcher says truck drivers don’t get overtime. Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it’s wrong, and the difference can be worth hundreds of dollars a week. Here is how to tell which side you are on.
Two laws, one driver
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 created the 40-hour workweek and the time-and-a-half mandate. That is the default rule for American workers. But the same law contains a motor carrier exemption that removes overtime protection from certain trucking jobs. DOT hours-of-service rules are a separate thing entirely: they cap driving time for safety, not pay. The mental model is simple. FLSA says time and a half after 40 hours. The motor carrier exemption removes some drivers from that rule. DOT rules limit how long you can drive but never require premium pay.
The default: time and a half after 40 hours
How the math works at $15 an hour
For a non-exempt worker, the calculation is straightforward. Overtime kicks in at 1.5 times the regular rate for every hour past 40 in a single workweek. At $15 per hour, a 45-hour week works out to 40 regular hours ($600.00) plus 5 overtime hours at $22.50 ($112.50), for a total of $712.50. A 50-hour week at that same $15 rate reaches $825.00. A 60-hour week hits $1,050.00.
How the math works at $20 an hour
At $20 per hour, a 40-hour week pays $800.00 straight. A 45-hour week adds 5 overtime hours at $30.00 ($150.00), totalling $950.00. Push that to 50 hours and you get 40 regular hours ($800.00) plus 10 overtime hours at $30.00 ($300.00), totalling $1,100.00. A 60-hour week at $20 per hour produces $1,400.00.
How the math works at $25 and $35 an hour
A 60-hour week at $25 per hour produces 40 regular hours ($1,000.00) plus 20 overtime hours at $37.50 ($750.00), for $1,750.00. At $35 per hour for 60 hours, the total reaches $2,450.00: 40 regular hours ($1,400.00) plus 20 overtime hours at $52.50 ($1,050.00). But for many truck drivers, none of this arithmetic applies, because the motor carrier exemption blocks it.
The motor carrier exemption
What the exemption does
The FLSA motor carrier provision removes overtime requirements for employees whose work falls under the Secretary of Transportation’s jurisdiction over motor vehicles in interstate commerce. DOT hours-of-service rules cap driving time: 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, a 14-hour on-duty limit, and a 30-minute rest break after 8 hours. Those are safety caps. They do not require premium pay. The exemption means that if your job is within DOT jurisdiction, the FLSA overtime requirement does not apply.
Two conditions that trigger it
Two conditions must both be met. First, your work must involve interstate commerce. Driving across state lines qualifies. So does hauling goods that will cross state lines, or transporting materials that originated out of state. Second, you must operate a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds, or a vehicle designed to transport more than 8 passengers for compensation, or a vehicle hauling hazardous materials requiring placards. If both conditions hold, your employer does not have to pay time and a half under federal law.
When the exemption does not apply
The exemption is not automatic. It applies only when the Secretary of Transportation has jurisdiction. In 2018, Congress narrowed it. The SAFE TT Act removed the exemption for short-haul drivers: those who operate within a 150-mile radius of their normal work reporting location, return to that location at the end of the shift, and do not exceed 14 hours on duty. For those drivers, FLSA overtime protections apply again. Long-haul interstate drivers remain outside the FLSA overtime rule.
State law adds a second layer
States with daily overtime rules
Even when the federal exemption applies, state law can step in. California requires overtime for commercial drivers in some intrastate situations. The state’s daily overtime rule (1.5x after 8 hours, 2x after 12 hours) and seventh-consecutive-day rule can apply to drivers not covered by the federal exemption. Alaska requires daily overtime after 8 hours and weekly overtime after 40 hours. Nevada requires daily overtime after 8 hours for employees earning less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage, and weekly overtime after 40 hours.
States with weekly-only rules
Colorado requires daily overtime after 12 hours and weekly overtime after 40 hours. Oregon requires weekly overtime after 40 hours, with daily overtime after 10 hours in manufacturing establishments. New York requires weekly overtime after 40 hours and adds spread-of-hours pay for hospitality workers.
The interstate-intrastate dividing line
The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act and FMCSA regulations preempt many state wage-and-hour laws for drivers engaged in interstate commerce. Intrastate drivers may be covered by state overtime laws. The line between interstate and intrastate is drawn by the nature of the goods and whether the trip crosses state lines. A driver who stays within one state but hauls goods that came from another state may still be engaged in interstate commerce for FLSA purposes. This is why the same company can have some drivers eligible for overtime and others not.
The 2022 Department of Labor shift
In May 2022, the Department of Labor issued an opinion letter reversing course. The new interpretation applies the motor carrier exemption only when the driver is actually engaged in interstate commerce and the vehicle is over 10,000 pounds GVWR. A local driver running within state lines, or one operating a vehicle under that weight, is likely covered by the FLSA and entitled to overtime. The DOL also said the exemption does not apply to drivers who are not engaged in interstate commerce, even if they drive a heavy vehicle.
The 2022 Buzby decision
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in Buzbee v. Penske Automotive Center that the motor carrier exemption no longer applied to a parts driver who worked within a 150-mile radius of his home base. That decision restored FLSA overtime eligibility for many local drivers previously treated as exempt under the old short-haul interpretation. The legal landscape shifts with court decisions and agency rulemaking. What was true in 2020 may not be true today.
What trucking companies do instead
Pay structures that replace overtime
Most interstate trucking employers classify drivers under the motor carrier exemption. Instead of overtime, they pay by the mile, by the load, or by a percentage of revenue. A driver can legally work a 14-hour shift and be paid for only the driving portion, provided the salary or per-mile pay still averages at least the minimum wage when all hours are counted.
The minimum wage floor still applies
Even workers outside the FLSA overtime rule are entitled to the minimum wage. That floor does not disappear just because overtime does.
How to check your own situation
Three questions to ask
Ask three questions. Is your employer a motor carrier? Does your vehicle have a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds? Are you hauling goods in interstate commerce? If you answer no to any of these, the FLSA overtime rules likely apply and you should be paid time and a half over 40 hours. If you answer yes to all three, you are probably outside federal overtime protection, but state law may still provide coverage.
Where to confirm the current rules
Check your state’s wage and hour division website for a state-specific overtime rule. The Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division publishes current salary thresholds and guidance: the July 2024 threshold for exempt employees was $844 per week ($43,888 per year). That figure changes. Confirm the current number with the DOL before relying on it.