Trucking company asks Supreme Court to rein in mine regulators

Washington, DC; November 5, 2026: A West Virginia trucking company asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to overturn a ruling that classified its truck repair shop as a mine. KC Transport argues that its shop falls outside the federal Mine Act and that, after the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, courts must arrive at the best reading of the statute, rather than defer to the agency’s interpretation.

“The Supreme Court made clear that when courts say what the law is, they must carefully look at statutory definitions so as not to overwhelm the ordinary, commonsense meaning of the word or phrase being defined,” said Adi Dynar, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “Under any fair reading of the Mine Act, a repair shop where no one extracts, mills, or prepares coal or other minerals is not a mine, and the government can’t regulate it as one.”

In March 2019, a federal mine inspector cited KC Transport’s repair shop in Emmett, West Virginia, for workers repairing trucks without putting blocks around the wheels, proposing $8,251 in civil penalties. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ruled in KC’s favor and vacated the citations, finding the shop was not a mine and therefore outside the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s jurisdiction. The Secretary of Labor asked the DC Circuit to reverse the Commission’s ruling, and a divided panel sided with the Secretary.

This is KC Transport’s second trip to the Supreme Court. In 2024, KC Transport sought review before the Court decided Loper Bright, which eliminated judicial deference to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. The Supreme Court granted the petition, vacated the decision, and remanded the case to the DC Circuit to reconsider in light of Loper Bright. The same divided panel ruled in April 2026 that the repair shop qualifies as a mine under federal law, and the full court declined to rehear the case.

This petition asks the justices to decide whether the Mine Act reaches shops at locations where no extraction, milling, or preparation takes place. The DC Circuit’s ruling conflicts with decisions from the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other federal courts holding that a repair facility is not a mine unless it is part of, or next to, one. If a truck repair shop counts as a mine, it is hard to see a limit to the Mine Act. It could apply to any business with a connection to mining, not just trucking companies. A win would restore clear limits for truckers, mechanics, and suppliers who serve the mining industry but do not mine.

Pacific Legal Foundation represents KC Transport free of charge, with co-counsel Pence Law Firm, PLLC. The case is KC Transport, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor.