Drivers for California Cartage Co and its subsidiaries allege the port companies, which haul about 10 percent of all freight at the Port of Los Angeles, have violated federal and state laws, alleging wage theft and driver misclassification.

Both Penske and its drivers support a settlement in a nine-year class-action dispute over wages for meal and rest breaks. Final approval of the proposed deal is set for Feb. 27.

Recent court rulings against the California Trucking Association and Swift Transportation have dealt setbacks to the trucking industry’s practice of classifying drivers as independent contractors.

A federal judge sided with a group of Swift Transportation drivers, who challenged the mega-carrier over its lease contracts. The plaintiffs’ attorney Dan Getman said the judge’s ruling that the drivers are employees, not independent contractors as Swift alleged, is a “significant win.”

Only two California-based motor carriers have signed up to participate in the state’s Motor Carrier Amnesty Program, which allows drayage companies that have misclassified truck drivers to change their work status to employees and pay them back wages.

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers take more time off work for job-related injuries than almost any other job in the country, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report.