Uber Drivers Get to Be Independent Contractors in California—So Why Shouldn’t Truck Drivers?

Independent truck drivers gather to delay the entry of trucks at a container terminal at the Port of Oakland, during a protest against California's law known as AB5, in Oakland, Calif., on July 18, 2022. Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Commentary

The Port of Oakland in California’s San Francisco Bay is America’s ninth-busiest container port, handling more than 2.4 million 20-foot shipping containers a year. All last week, though, its docks were piled high with unloaded containers, and an armada of freighters stacked with still more containers sat idling in the bay—thanks to a week-long strike by the state’s independent truckers who used their vehicles to block road access to the port.