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J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. v. Gerardo Ortega, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 14-56034 · judgment July 31, 2017

Certiorari denied · June 4, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 8% cert probability (95% interval 6%–11%)

Before the decision, about 2× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Ninth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) provides that “a State [or] political subdivision . . . may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier . . . with respect to the transportation of property.” 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1). The questions presented are:

  1. Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held—like the Eleventh Circuit, but contrary to decisions from this Court and the First and Seventh Circuits—that a state law of general applicability is not preempted by the FAAAA unless it “binds” a motor carrier to “specific” prices, routes, or services.

  2. Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held—like the Third Circuit, but contrary to the First, Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits—that the FAAAA’s use of the terms “price, route, or service” refers only to “point-to-point transport.”

  3. Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held that California’s wage and labor laws, which prohibit motor carriers from using industry-standard incentive-based pay structures, are not preempted by the FAAAA, in conflict with the First Circuit’s holding that Massachusetts’s wage and labor laws, which similarly restrain the way that motor carriers incentivize their drivers, are preempted by the FAAAA.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Roy T. Englert Jr.
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (US) LLP

For respondent
Deepak Gupta
Gupta Wessler LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
7 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jun 04 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. May 15 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/31/2018.
  3. May 15 2018
    Reply of petitioner J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. filed. (Distributed)
  4. May 01 2018
    Brief of respondents Gerardo Ortega, et al. in opposition filed.
  5. Mar 27 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted in part and the time is extended to and including May 1, 2018.
  6. Mar 23 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 9, 2018 to May 9, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Mar 23 2018
    Response to motion from petitioner J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. filed.
  8. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amici curiae of Penske Logistics LLC and Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. filed.
  9. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amici curiae of American Trucking Associations, Inc., and 22 State Trucking Associations filed.
  10. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of BNSF Railway Company filed.
  11. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Trucking Industry Defense Association filed.
  12. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Ryder System, Inc. filed.
  13. Mar 09 2018
    Brief amici curiae of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. filed.
  14. Mar 07 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of Truck Renting and Leasing Association filed.
  15. Feb 20 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 9, 2018.
  16. Feb 14 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 9, 2018 to April 8, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  17. Feb 05 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 9, 2018)