U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR
WASHINGTON 25
OCT 6, 1961
MEMORANDUM # 28
TO: AGENCIES ADMINISTERING STATUTES REFERRED TO IN 29
CFR, SUBTITLE A, PART 5.
FROM: James M. Miller
Assistant Solicitor 
SUBJECT: Opinions on application of the Davis-Bacon and related
Acts.
Enclosed with previous covering memoranda, copies of
opinions on the application of the Davis-Bacon and related Acts
were furnished you for information and guidance in your enforce-
ment programs under those Acts.
We are now enclosing a copy of a recent opinion on
this same general subject, which we are sure will be of further
interest and assistance to you.
Enclosure





































DB-9 10K
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 250(3)
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR
WASHINGTON 25
September 13, 1961
Mr. E. Irving Manger
Assistant to the General Counsel
Labor Relations Branch
Office of Chief of Engineers
Department of the Army
Washington 25, D. C.
Re: E-62-295 & 296
Oklahoma
Dear Mr. Manger:
This is in further reference to our conference of
August 28, 1961, relative to the applicability and enforcement
of the contract labor standards provisions to truck owner-oper-
ators engaged in hauling activities on Corps of Engineers' con-
struction-type contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon and related
Acts. Our conference followed the August 22nd and 23rd investi-
gation and evaluation of this overall problem made jointly by
you and representatives of your Tulsa District and of our Co-
ordination of Enforcement Branch, in connection with work being
performed under Corps' contracts at Eufala Dam and along the
Arkansas River, in Oklahoma.
Corps of Engineers representatives charged with assuring
contract labor standards compliance have encountered serious pro-
blems in their efforts to determine whether these owner-operators
have been properly paid in accordance with the computation pro-
cedures previously explained in rulings and interpretations issued
by this Department. Despite preconstruction conferences and on-
site interviews and investigations, serious doubts have arisen as
to compliance, especially since it has been established that gen-
erally the owner-operators seek and usually work under payment ar-
rangements rooted in a unit price basis, for example, so much per
cubic yard of material hauled, rather than on the basis of an actual
truck or equipment rental rate plus the appropriate driver's (or
operator's) rate. Moreover, although weekly certified payrolls may
be submitted pursuant to contract requirements, substantial diffi-
culties have arisen with respect to securing adequate data on rental
arrangements in order to determine whether the contract minimum rates
have been in fact paid.















DB-9
Mr. E. Irving Manger      Page 2
Because of these and other related considerations, we
have thoroughly reviewed our position with respect to owner-oper-
ators of trucks and similar construction equipment and have reached
the conclusion that, as a matter of administrative policy, the pro-
visions of the Davis-Bacon and related Acts will not be applied to
bona fide owner-operators of trucks or other similar construction
equipment who are independent contractors, until such time as it may
appear to be practical to devise workable and easily enforceable pro-
cedures for obtaining compliance with respect to such owner-operators.
The certified payrolls including the names of such bona fide owner-
operators need not show hours worked nor rates allegedly paid, but
only the notation "Owner-Operator".
In view of the general interest in this area on the part
of all contracting agencies and other interested parties, this de-
cision is being made available to the public, with copies being
distributed to all Federal contracting agencies, contractor associa-
tions, and employee representative organizations.
Yours sincerely,
/s/ Charles Donahue
Solicitor of Labor