Commercial truck driver license proposals focus on safety as American truckers lose jobs, wages
By: Alan Wooten
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rising scrutiny of 194,000 state-issued nondomiciled CDLs to foreign workers with poor English language proficiency reveal two routes to safety.
Rule change is one, done by the U.S. Department of Transportation in September and idled by litigation. Congressional action - Rep. Dave Taylor, R-Ohio, filed a seventh related proposal Thursday - to create a statute is the other.
Safety is paramount in the discussion. Collateral damage, however, includes American truckers losing jobs and experiencing wage reductions from less expensive labor invading their home soil.
"Secretary Duffy and the Department of Transportation have taken important steps to immediately make America's roads safer by cracking down on non-domiciled CDLs and ensuring that anyone operating an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle can read road signs," said George O'Connor, speaking for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. "OOIDA members and professional truck drivers across the country are encouraged by these actions. These road safety reforms now need to be codified in federal law by Congress so they cannot be reversed by a future administration and can keep our roads safe for the long haul."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said former President Joe Biden and his administration did no background checks and offered asylum and work authorizations to many people illegally coming into the country. The offer of work through a CDL came next.
"If you come legally, or you have a visa, or you're coming from one state to another, you can get a nondomiciled CDL," Duffy said in a network interview earlier this month. "These are the licenses that these foreigners are using. But to tighten up the rules means we're going to have more safety on American roads.
"There were 200,000 nondomiciled CDLs issued to foreigners. We think 194,000 of them were issued illegally and would not comply with our new rule."
A Sept. 26 rule change announced by Duffy came between the spotlights of triple-fatal crashes involving 18-wheelers in Florida on Aug. 12 and Oct. 21 in California. A federal appeals court in the District of Columbia this month temporarily halted the rule change for non-domiciled commercial learner's permits and commercial driver's licenses.
The rule would include mandatory in-person applications and stricter immigration status verification.
Enforcement of the rule is on hold while the merits of motions are being judged; in other words, the stay is not reflective of those merits. The trucking association likes the rule and has also spoken out in favor of four of the seven proposals tied to illegal immigration and CDLs.
Congressional action, O'Connor says for his organization, offers a more cemented path. A new administration, after all, could change rules of the Transportation Department.
The seven include one in the Senate and six in the House of Representatives, and two are from Taylor. Two are from North Carolina congressmen.
• Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act (Senate Bill 3013), authored by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
• SAFE Drivers Act (House Resolution 5800), authored by Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C.
• Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act (HR5688), authored by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C.
• No CDLs for Illegals Act (HR5863), authored by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.
• Protecting America's Roads Act (HR5670), authored by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas.
• Commercial Motor Vehicle English Proficiency Act (HR6233), authored by Taylor.
• Connor's Law (HR3608), a proposal that codifies a presidential executive order, authored by Taylor.
None have passed their respective chambers of origination.
Litigation on the new rule involves its fast-track route. The public comment period is open, and so far the court doesn't deem the threshold of emergency for procedural actions to be met.
For the policy in both the rule and the congressional proposals to be enforced and remain, a law better stands the test of time.
Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said Taylor's bill filed last week - Commercial Motor Vehicle English Proficiency Act - "aligns with OOIDA's long-standing advocacy for stronger driver training standards and we appreciate his leadership in making our roads safer for our members and the motoring public."
He also favors passage of Rouzer's Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act.
"This legislation ensures only individuals with lawful immigration status and a legitimate reason to operate commercial vehicles in the U.S. are entrusted with CDLs," Rouzer said. "We're closing dangerous loopholes and restoring accountability. We must never, under any circumstance, jeopardize public safety by allowing those here illegally to get behind the wheel of a big rig."
Spencer said, "Congress should act now to make it the permanent law of the land. OOIDA urges Congress to pass Representative Rouzer's Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act, which would make these commonsense road safety reforms the law and protect the integrity of America's licensing system."
While the focus is rightly on safety, Duffy alluded to a secondary, albeit important, piece of collateral damage. And it is in line with second-term Republican President Donald Trump's promotion of "America first."
"When people can't understand the English language, can't read signs, and they don't know the rules of our roads, that's a problem," Duffy said. "Americans aren't safe. Also, we see that there are CDL mills, which are driver's licenses mills where people are not being properly trained. They're being pushed through, getting licenses, and then driving across the country.
"It's driving American truckers out of business. And for American trucking companies, driving wages down. That's not why we're taking this action. But that's real consequences of having all these foreigners come in."
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Biden's failure was allowing so many unvetted illegals into the country. We all know that and know that US Citizens are dying because of it. When it comes to the Transportation idustry, trucking Companies are to blame. They must complete background checks on ALL drivers they employ. Again, this is not anything new and is required under 49 CFR Part 40 ( ).
The shortlist of these background checks include:
These are requirements that the state must adhere to as well as the motor carrier ("trucking companies"). The results of all the above mentioned "Background Checks" are to be kept in a "Driver Qualification File" with the trucking company. I imagine there are thousands of "missing" documents / files from these records that will cost the trucking companies MILLIONS in fines.
This " Commercial Motor Vehicle English Proficiency Act" is nothing new. This has been a requirement since the inception of the FMCSA and covered under 49 CFR §391.11 ( ). What IS new is the level of enforcement. And it's exposing how many drivers cannot read, speak or understand the minimum is what everybody is seeing now.
In addition to 49 CFR Part 40, each state has their own set of additional requirements. Several states not only ignored their own legal authority but they ignored the federal requirements as well. So with that we have thousands of drivers on the road who illegally obtained their CDL / CLP and putting everybody at risk.
I can’t see any legitimate reason to oppose either the rule or enforcement of it? I can only come up with corruption or hatred of Americans and trying to hurt them in any way possible.
I agree that this is a real problem that needs to be addressed. But the legislation appears to be too tightly focused for the purpose of exploiting another immigration issue. In my view, the legislation needs to be more comprehensive. Especially since our education system appears to be failing to deliver on the requirements in the legislation.
The legislation reinforces what has been in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for decades. It's not as new as people think. The ONLY new aspect of all this is the enforcement.
A lot of this isn't about our education system. A lot of these are people who come to this country (many illegally) and don't attempt to assimilate in the slightest.
And the bills haven't passed. That's more likely because they're crafted to focus on narrow, special interest issues. It wouldn't be the first time big companies killed legislation by lobbying for narrowly focused bills.
A green card is all that is needed. And that is what must be enforced. There are immigrants who are not intending to reside permanently in the US. Refugee status is designed to be a non-permanent immigration status. Even an asylum status can change with conditions in country of origin. Asylum is not supposed to be a pathway to permanent residence. The temporary nature refugee and asylum is a huge hole in the immigration system that has diminished the requirements to assimilate. But, apparently, these bills are too narrowly focused to address that larger problem.
The FMCSRs were established in 1966. Long before it become a "special interest issue".
What needs to be enforced is the FMCSRs (linked in #1 above) and State laws. These apply to all commercial vehicle drivers regardless of where they are from. If they are driving on US roadways, it applies. These drivers aren't pulled over due to their immigration status. They're pulled over for a wide variety of violations to the DOT Regulations. That's where the problems start.
And that larger problem consists of those who are in violation of the DOT Regulations.
Where have I disagreed? The point I'm making is there have been seven attempts with no success. So, what's the hold up?
Democrats will oppose anything Republicans propose concerning immigrants. So, focusing attention on immigrants automatically makes the issue partisan with Democrats in lock-step opposition.
Will the TEA Party go along with Federalizing a state authority? The FMCSRs recognize that the states take the lead in certifying CDL drivers. The states are issuing the CDL licenses. Will the TEA Party go along with vesting a Federal bureaucracy with authority to dictate requirements for issuing licenses and enforcing compliance with Federal regulations?
You are complaining about immigrants. Truck company lobbyists don't understand that framing the legislation in this way will garner kneejerk opposition from Democrats and opposition from state-rights Republicans?
These seven bills are obviously just fodder to bash Democrats. It's not a serious attempt to accomplish anything.
And that's where their stupidity rears its head again.
And that is where the problem lies. The FMCSA (DOT) laid out the basic requirements, states are ignoring it and issuing, in essence, illegal CDLs.
Yes and no. Violations happen on a daily basis. Everything from load securement to driver competency. Immigration doesn't become a problem until, as I said, the Inspector starts to speak to the driver. By the FMCSRs the driver must have the ability to understand English. Those that can't understand English, shouldn't be behind the wheel of a 33,000 truck or transporting passengers in a bus.
Given it's Democrats that will take issue with all this, I see it as exposing the Democrats lack of knowledge of established regulation.