TORONTO — It’s sure not easy being an owner-op these days. And for carriers, finding and keeping good independents isn’t exactly as smooth as a coastal cruise down Pacific Highway.

Spurred on by unions, bureaucratic busybodies in both the U.S. and Canada have spent years trying to rewrite the definition of independent operators.

Senator John Kerry has been relatively quiet since his presidential bid failed in 2004, but he popped up again recently when he introduced a bill that, if passed, would reverse the burden of proof and force employers to show there’s a "reasonable basis" for not treating a contractor as an employee.

In Canada, unions are allowed very lenient guidelines to collectively bargain on behalf of owner-ops (even against their will) based on the perceived amount of day-to-day ­control companies exercise over independent workers.

Owner-ops paying carriers for training and direction?

It’s no wonder, then, that carriers are fretting over how much training and direction they should offer owner-ops in helping them comply with CSA 2010 without attracting the attention of an unwanted union recruiter.

(The tough new fleet safety measurement system officially kicks in Dec. 1. Check out this week’s online feature for more.)

"It’s a very sticky issue," says J.J. Keller’s CSA expert Thomas Bray. "You have to make sure that those owner-ops that are leased to you are operating in compliance. But the trick is to get that level of compliance out of them without crossing the line and graying that employee area."

To shield themselves, some carriers are simply passing along the rules and demanding owner-ops comply or they’ll be dropped, says Bray.

Unfortunately, that leaves in the cold a lot of good truckers who might just need a helping hand to stay in compliance with what’s obviously a very intimidating safety regime. "You want to give your people the tools they need," says Bray, "but you don’t want to start sliding toward that line either."

Christopher Andree, a labor attorney with Gowlings in Kitchener, Ont., agrees that a certain level of oversight and control of owner-ops — even if it’s to ensure their safety fitness — could run afoul of Canadian labor guidelines.

His advice for keeping owner-ops in compliance, but in an arms-length sort of way, makes some sense, although it’ll be taxing on smaller fleets and owner-ops.

"In order to avoid any suggestion that the fleet operator is training the owner-operator as it would an employee," Andree suggests, "an owner-op would be wise to pay the operator for the service just as it would an independent training company."