Ports: truck drivers.

Senator Richardson’s measure would establish a port-specific transparency regime that, starting in 2027, requires public quarterly disclosures of every truck entering the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles and annual disclosures of driver- and truck-level information tied to employment status and regulatory identifiers. The authors frame the approach as a data-driven framework to accompany port operations and employer classifications within these two ports.

Key provisions create a two-part structure. First, the Harbors and Navigation Code would require the port to publish on its website, each quarter, a data set for every truck entering the port in the prior quarter, including the entry gate, date and time, truck owner, the Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) and its owner, the authority used for entry, the insured party, and the USDOT registration number and associated contact. The port would also be obligated to provide, upon Labor Commissioner request, additional information in its possession, while not being required to verify third-party data. Second, the Labor Code would impose port-facing annual reporting requirements for both employee drivers and non-employee drivers: trucking companies must report workers’ compensation coverage, the number of employee drivers, and a sworn affirmation that required taxes are being withheld for employees; non-employee drivers must provide insurance, MC number, USDOT number, CHP number, California motor carrier permit, SCAC (or SCAC owner), and DOT registration information. The port must publish collected information publicly beginning January 1, 2027, and may accept online forms to facilitate data collection; ports must update the data within 30 days of substantial operational changes that move more than half of a company’s workforce to independent contractors.

Enforcement and penalties are specified for misrepresentation and noncompliance. A person providing false or misleading information to represent compliance with the port-trucking reporting would face a civil penalty of twenty thousand dollars, and a trucking company that fails to meet the 50 percent independent-contractor threshold update requirement would face a civil penalty of five thousand dollars. The bill notes an expanded perjury framework in its findings, indicating potential criminal liability for false sworn affirmations related to the information collected, in addition to the civil penalties. The act also creates a state-mandated local program by imposing these port duties, with reimbursement rules described if mandated costs are determined to exist.

The measure defines the two ports as the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles and aligns key terms with the Labor Code’s definitions of SCAC, trucking company, and truck driver. It preserves a data-collection and disclosure approach that is tied to the broader employment-status framework without rewriting existing ABC-style tests, and it situates the new regime as a special statute intended for port-specific circumstances. Implementation hinges on port readiness to publish data and on ongoing administrative oversight, including Labor Commissioner access to port-held information and potential enforcement actions, with a funding and mandate framework that contemplates local program costs.