Abstract:
A van crash in Wisconsin that killed seven young people who traveled around the country to sell magazines has spurred an effort to protect young sellers of various products.

A ban on minors on itinerant sales crews and a national registration requirement for crew leaders are among solutions favored by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl in the draft of a bill he is preparing, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday.

Full Text:
Copyright Madison Capital Times Sep 6, 1999
A van crash in Wisconsin that killed seven young people who traveled around the country to sell magazines has spurred an effort to protect young sellers of various products.

A ban on minors on itinerant sales crews and a national registration requirement for crew leaders are among solutions favored by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl in the draft of a bill he is preparing, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday.

Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, said he also wants minimum wage and overtime laws to cover traveling door-to-door agents.

The legislation takes aim at crews that travel the country selling magazines but also would affect crews that sell other items, such as candy.

Kohl plans to introduce a final version of the "Traveling Sales Crew Protection Act" soon after Congress reconvenes this week, a spokesman for the senator said. According to a draft of Kohl's bill, a ban on sellers younger than 18 would not apply to nonprofit employers or to individual volunteers. It is aimed at crews that travel and take employees away from home.

Overtime and pay standards would kick in only when sales agents don't return home at the end of the workday, under Kohl's proposal.

In March, seven people died after their van crashed on Interstate 90 near Janesville. At least 42 sellers nationwide have died or have been injured in traffic crashes since 1992, the newspaper reported.