Isn't it black-letter law that ignorance of the law is not a defense? Not for employers of light-truck drivers (that is, trucks weighing 10,000 pounds or less). Due to their lobbyists' unrelenting pressure, and after several years of trying, employers who do not pay overtime to these drivers finally managed a one-year escape from FLSA liability starting on August 5, 2006 - the date on which Congress effectively repealed the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) exemption to the FLSA's overtime requirement for drivers of light trucks. However, the liability rollback cannot be used by employers who, during the one-year period, had actual knowledge that the exemption for truck drivers from FLSA coverage had changed. Fortunately, many if not most of the employers in the industry did know about SAFETEA-LU and its effect on overtime coverage of their employees well before August 5, 2006. Moreover, after expiration of the one-year period, the drivers would continue to have the same FLSA overtime rights as other employees.

Thanks to sustained advocacy by NELA, the Teamsters, and the American Association for Justice and to the strong support of Senate HELP Committee Chair Ted Kennedy (D-MA), House Education & Labor Chair George Miller (D-CA) and Transportation & Infrastructure Chair James Oberstar (D-MN), this "get out of jail free card" was much more modest than the industry's original proposal, which had been the total reinstatement of the MCA exemption.