East Texas Crane Company — Hourly Workers Shortchanged on Travel Time

East Texas Crane Company — Hourly Workers Shortchanged on Travel Time, Salaried Workers Misclassified as Exempt

Southern Transport, LLC and Southern Lifting and Hoisting, LLC | Crane Operators and Field Safety Coordinators | East Texas

Buenker Law filed a federal lawsuit against Southern Transport, LLC and Southern Lifting and Hoisting, LLC — related companies providing crane and heavy-lift services to the oil and gas, renewable energy, and construction industries in East Texas — on behalf of two categories of workers who were each denied overtime pay through different mechanisms. The plaintiff experienced both violations personally during her time with the company.

As an hourly crane operator, she was paid for only one hour of drive time at each end of her workday regardless of the actual distance traveled to reach remote job sites. Travel time to and from remote work locations that the employer requires is generally compensable under the FLSA, and capping it at a flat one hour regardless of reality meant that workers regularly went uncompensated for significant portions of their working day. As a salaried field safety coordinator, she was paid a salary covering a set number of hours per week with an assumed lunch break — but the nature of field safety work made a true lunch break impossible, and her actual hours consistently and substantially exceeded what the salary was supposed to cover. Because field safety coordinators follow standardized checklists and protocols rather than exercising true managerial discretion, they do not qualify for the FLSA’s executive or administrative exemptions.

The lawsuit covers two sub-groups: all crane operators whose compensable travel time was capped at one hour, and all field safety coordinators paid a salary without overtime. Both defendant entities share the same owner and operate as joint employers. The case is pending in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas.