Calling New York “the worst offender” in the issuance of unlawful non-domiciled CDLs, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull $73 million from the state.
As part of a DOT news conference on Friday, Dec. 12, Duffy said that New York has 30 days to come into compliance.
An audit revealed that more than half of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully, Duffy said.
Specifically, the DOT said 107 of the 200 records it sampled in New York were issued in violation of federal law.
“As we’ve done this nationwide audit, we found the worst offender, which is the state of New York,” Duffy said. “Fifty-three percent of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally.”
A common problem, Duffy said, is that New York would grant a CDL to someone for eight years even though their U.S. work authorization was only good for months.
“I’m going to give New York 30 days, because that’s what the law requires, to come into compliance with the rules that have been longstanding at the Department of Transportation,” Duffy said. “If they come into compliance, we’re going to work with them. If New York refuses to come into compliance, because (Gov.) Kathy Hochul for some reason believes we should have unqualified truck drivers on American roadways, we are going to pull tens of millions of dollars as phase one from the state of New York.”
The DOT has been working for months to pull back the non-domiciled CDL process in the United States. In late September, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an emergency interim final rule that would pull non-domiciled CDLs from nearly 200,000 individuals. The agency said the “broken” system allowed thousands of unqualified people to receive CDLs.
“The mission is to get compliance to make sure that we have safe commercial drivers on American roadways and that Americans are safe,” Duffy said. “That is the mission … When an American family gets in a car, they shouldn’t be concerned that they have an unqualified foreigner operating an 80,000-pound big rig that could endanger their lives.”
The New York Department of Motor Vehicles immediately pushed back.
“Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents,” New York DMV spokesperson Walter McClure said in a statement. “Here is the truth: Commercial Driver’s Licenses are regulated by the federal government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules. Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations. This is just another stunt from Secretary Duffy, and it does nothing to keep our roads safer. We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”
Meanwhile, FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs cited various examples of “unlawful” non-domiciled CDLs being issued in New York.
“What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight,” Barrs said. “It is a grossly unacceptable deviation from a federal safety regulation that has been on the books for a long period of time.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said it is supportive of efforts to ensure that only safe and qualified truck drivers receive CDLs.
“The days of exploiting cheap labor on the basis of false ‘driver shortage’ claims are over. OOIDA and truckers across America support the Trump Administration’s actions to crack down on the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk. Secretary Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Barrs are embracing policies that prioritize the needs of professional truckers and roadway safety.”
New York is the latest state that the DOT has called out for not issuing CDLs properly. Earlier this month, DOT sent a letter threatening to pull funding from Minnesota. Other states that have been instructed to clean up their acts include California, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota, Texas and Washington.
Duffy said on Dec. 12 that California has cooperated with the DOT to pull 17,000 unlawful CDLs. LL
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