Colorado is the latest state to be found on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s CDL “naughty list.”
On Monday, Dec. 22, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull $24 million in federal funding from Colorado if the state doesn’t immediately pull “illegally” issued commercial driver’s licenses. Even more, Duffy said that the DOT has the option to decertify Colorado’s CDL program in its entirety.
“Colorado doesn’t get to pick and choose what federal rules it follows – especially when the driving public is at risk,” Duffy said in a news release. “It’s been nearly two months since Colorado admitted that they knowingly broke the law and gave Mexican nationals trucking licenses. Colorado has two options: revoke the licenses immediately, or I will pull federal funding. Every day that goes by is another day unqualified, unvetted foreign truckers are jeopardizing the safety of you and your family.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that a nationwide audit conducted earlier this year revealed that about 22% of Colorado’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued “illegally.” According to FMCSA, many of the licenses were given to Mexican nationals, which is prohibited under federal regulations.
The Colorado governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to Land Line’s request for comment, but The Associated Press reported that Gov. Jared Polis called it a case of “crossed wires,” adding that letters were expected to go out this week to the holders of improperly issued CDLs.
Meanwhile, the DOT accused Colorado of “slow walking” the license purge, adding that the state is allowing improperly credentialed drivers to operate 80,000-pound trucks in the meantime.
List keeps growing
Colorado is the latest state to have its funding threatened, but it’s certainly not the first.
Earlier in December, Duffy called New York the “worst offender” and threatened to pull $73 million.
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.”
Similar letters over non-domiciled CDLs and English proficiency have been sent to Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas and Washington.
Colorado also received a letter regarding its issuance of non-domiciled CDLs in October. In that letter, the DOT cited examples of Colorado issuing CDLs for a time period longer than the individual’s work authorization. Additionally, the DOT noted 18 instances of Colorado issuing non-domiciled CDLs to citizens of Mexico. LL
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