How to Check Whether Your Local Drivers Are Overtime-Exempt After McLane
Document that each load is part of an unbroken interstate movement before treating local drivers as overtime-exempt under the FLSA motor carrier exemption.
To check whether local delivery drivers are overtime-exempt under the FLSA motor carrier exemption, document that the freight they move is part of an unbroken interstate movement. A local route alone is not enough. The question is whether the particular load travels in a continuous journey that crosses state lines, even if the driver's own segment stays inside one state.
The exemption follows the load
The exemption can reach drivers whose routes are local. In Stingley v. Laci Transport, Inc., the Seventh Circuit held on April 2, 2026 that purely intrastate drivers may qualify for the FLSA motor carrier overtime exemption, 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1), if the cargo is part of an unbroken interstate movement. The load test controls.
The drivers in that case were shuttle truck drivers moving automobile parts only inside Illinois, from storage lots to a Ford assembly plant in Chicago. The court treated the storage lots' temporary holding of the parts as not breaking the interstate movement because the lots were not the final destination for the goods.
The Ninth Circuit case Madero v. McLane Foodservice, Inc., Nos. 25-1341 and 25-1798, is dated March 4, 2025 and was expected to take up the continuous-journey question in a last-mile setting.
The file should exist before classification
Classification is a documentation exercise. The law asks about the freight; the file is how you prove it. If you cannot show the load's interstate journey, you should not treat the driver as exempt. Build the file before the first shift, not after a wage claim.
- Map the shipment origin and final destination. Done looks like a one-page load sheet showing where the freight began, where it will end, and whether your warehouse is a temporary stop.
- Decide whether the warehouse is a temporary settlement or a final destination. Done looks like a short memo explaining why the goods will move on, who owns them, and what happens if they sit for a week.
- Tie each load to an unbroken interstate movement with freight documents. Done looks like bills of lading, purchase orders, or carrier manifests that connect the local segment to the broader journey.
- Record route records and standing orders. Done looks like a route log, a dispatch schedule, and a note distinguishing fixed customer orders from predictive demand modeling.
- Review the file when routes, customers, or freight change. Done looks like a dated update showing what changed, who approved it, and why the classification still holds.
The common mistake is to treat a company-wide interstate business as enough. The test follows the load, not the company's overall business. If a driver moves goods that began and end inside the state, the local route does not create the classification.
Give the file to the person who controls dispatch, not just HR. The dispatcher knows the route, the customer, and the freight. HR can keep the classification memo, but the operational details should live where the loads are planned.
Keep the file for the period you rely on it. If you claim the classification for a quarter, the file should cover that quarter. If a driver's duties change, start a new file for the new work and keep the old one for the old period.
Demand changes can break the file
The file should be load-specific. A driver who moves both interstate-connected freight and purely local freight needs a record that separates the two. The classification does not attach to the employee as a whole; it attaches to the work tied to interstate movement. If the work is mixed, the file should show which deliveries qualify and which do not.
Local delivery fleets often change customers, drop zones, and warehouse assignments. A file that was accurate last quarter may not be accurate this month. Do not let a job title carry the classification.
For piece-rate drivers, the same documentation still matters. Paying by delivery does not change the overtime analysis. If the load is not part of an unbroken interstate movement, the driver is likely covered by the FLSA overtime rules. Do not use the classification as a shortcut around timekeeping. If drivers are nonexempt, track hours, breaks, and piece-rate conversions. If they are exempt, the file still needs to survive a payroll audit.