The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are sending a message to the bad actors in the trucking industry.
That goes for chameleon carriers, CDL mills, lackluster third-party testers and companies that manufacture illegal electronic logging devices.
During a news conference on Friday, Feb. 20, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs outlined a broad plan of attack to remove unsafe truck drivers and motor carriers.
“The work is just beginning,” Duffy said.
For months, the DOT and FMCSA have focused much of their efforts on cleaning up the non-domiciled CDL process and ensuring that truck drivers can speak English. Earlier this month, the agency issued a final rule that is expected to remove about 194,000 non-domiciled CDL holders. Meanwhile, Barrs said on Friday that about 14,000 truck drivers have been placed out of service for being unable to speak English proficiently since the administration began enforcing the rule last year.
The administration says both actions are about safety, as non-domiciled CDL holders aren’t properly vetted, and truck drivers must be able to read electronic road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers.
On Friday, Duffy said the stance should be non-partisan.
“The debate really is, do you want well-trained, well-qualified drivers behind the wheel of a big rig driving on American roads? That’s very simple,” Duffy said. “I think the answer from every single American, no matter what your political stripes are, is that’s exactly what they want.”
Now, DOT and FMCSA are expanding their efforts to ensure that only well-trained and well-vetted truck drivers take the wheel of an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer.
Those actions will include no longer allowing CDL training schools to self-certify, ensuring third-party testers are audited, cracking down on chameleon carriers that operate under multiple DOT numbers and requiring that all CDL knowledge tests be administered in English. The agencies did not provide a clear timeline for when they will issue rules to address the various concerns.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said it supports the DOT in ensuring that only safe truck drivers operate on the nation’s roadways.
For years, chameleon carriers, CDL mills, and weak English language proficiency enforcement have allowed unqualified drivers to slip through the cracks, compromising safety as well as facilitating fraud,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Rather than lowering standards, the Trump administration is strengthening training, licensing and qualification protocols to ensure properly trained and vetted drivers operate on our nation’s highways. That is a win for public safety and for the professional truckers who take pride in this industry.”
California and New York fall in line
As part of DOT’s efforts to crack down on non-domiciled CDLs and the lack of English proficiency, the agency announced it would pull funding from states that did not comply.
The New York Post reported on Friday that California began enforcing English tests for truck drivers after the DOT withheld $40 million, and that New York will stop giving CDLs to non-citizens. FMCSA had threatened to pull about $70 million in highway funding from New York.
Duffy, who is usually at odds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, gave the state a “kudos” for enforcing the English regulation. LL
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