(Photo: Radisa Zivkovic/iStockphoto.com)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled March 11 that a motor carrier exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay requirement does not apply to truck drivers who spend all or part of their time operating vehicles that weigh under 10,000 pounds.

In a precedential ruling, the appeals court affirmed a district judge’s ruling granting overtime pay to armored vehicle driver Ashley McMaster, a former hourly employee of Eastern Armored Services, who regularly worked in excess of 40 hours but did not receive overtime pay. Because about half of McMaster’s schedule involved driving vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds, her work week falls under an FLSA revision known as the Corrections Act of 2008, the appeals court said.