Federal leasing regulations require a motor carrier leasing equipment to assume exclusive possession, control, and responsibility for the vehicle during the lease term. Courts have long read that requirement to make the driver a statutory employee for liability purposes.
The doctrine originated to prevent carriers from escaping responsibility by leasing equipment from nominally independent owner-operators.
Alternative Names:
Statutory Employment, Regulatory Employee
Why it Matters?
Statutory employment largely forecloses the independent contractor defense in interstate trucking, which is why vicarious liability is rarely a genuine issue. It also shapes coverage: non-trucking liability policies exclude operation under the carrier's authority, so identifying which carrier's authority was in use at the moment of the crash determines which policy responds.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Can a carrier defeat liability by proving the driver was an independent contractor?
How does statutory employment affect insurance coverage?
