b'4American Journal of TransportationNOVEMBER 20 - DECEMBER 17, 2023Drayage at the Port of NY and NJchallenges remainStatus of owner-operators in jeopardy while some COVID supply-chain kinks persist.By Peter Buxbaum, AJOTThe cargo picture at the Port offormacontractualarrangementinto New York and New Jersey has largelyan employment relationship.revertedtopre-pandemicseasonalThis issue is of particular impor-andcyclicalpatterns,butdrayagetancetodrayagecarriersinthe carriersattheportstillfacechal- Port of New York and New Jersey, lenges. Motor carriers, which rely onbecause, as Lisa Yakomin, president owner-operators as an essential com- of the Association of Bi-State Motor ponent of their workforces, are facingCarriers(BSMC),explained,some acontinuedandsometimesconfus- ofthemhaveallcompanydrivers ingefforttoreclassifyindependentandthatisthebusinessmodelthat operators as employees. And, whilethey prefer, but there are others that cargovolumeshavefallenoffdra- have a mix of company drivers and maticallyfromtherecord-breakingindependent contractors.2022,gatemoveshavedecreased onlyslightly,suggestingthatsome COVID supply-chain kinks have yet to be worked out.Themovementtoreclassify independentcontractorsascompany employeesreceivedaboostinlate October,whentheNationalLabor RelationsBoard(NLRB)issueda rulemakingthatexpandedthecon-ditionsunderwhichcompaniescan beclassifiedasjointemployers. See:https://www.ajot.com/news/nrf-opposes-new-joint-employer-rulesWorkingconditionsrelatingto safety and health is one such condi- Lisa Yakomin, president of the BSMCtion that can be considered to trans- (DRAYAGEcontinued on page 17)'