Through a letter dispatched to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week, more than 60 members of Congress urged changes to the licensing process for motor fuel truck haulers as means to draw in more applicants to the workforce.
In their letter, the representatives called for removal of or updates to supposedly redundant pricey barriers currently guiding the Department of Transportation (USDOT). These have become particularly burdensome, the members argued, amid ongoing supply chain and inflation concerns, coupled with a national shortage of qualified drivers. The last increases the difficulty to deliver products in a timely way, and the shortage is particularly acute in the motor fuel industry.
“The licensing process for truck drivers should – most importantly – ensure high standards of safety and competence for those behind the wheel,” said U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a leader of this effort. “Instead, redundancies and overly burdensome requirements are worsening driver shortages, and pushing the limits of our existing workforce.”
While all truckers have their share of licensing restrictions, motor fuel drivers must also possess hazardous materials license endorsements under federal law. Backed by the Energy Marketers of America and the American Trucking Association, the lawmakers want to modify these training and testing requirements to instead focus on HAZMAT-specific education and allow enrollment in multiple programs at once.
“Compounding the shortage of qualified CDL drivers is long wait times at terminal racks, and these factors insert profound uncertainty into America’s petroleum distribution chain,” the lawmakers wrote. They added, “We have heard from many drivers in the motor fuels marketing industry who express frustration that the training curricula requirements for HMEs are largely unrelated to their jobs. As USDOT seeks to address the current CDL driver shortage and implement the Trucking Action Plan, we encourage the Department to consider modifying the HME training and testing requirements to place a larger focus on HME-specific education. We acknowledge that this suggestion is no easy task and welcome opportunities to work with USDOT and relevant stakeholders to think through a host of solutions.”
Building off of this, they added encouragement for the USDOT to work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to eliminate the need for multiple credential background checks, and instead condense the efforts for Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC), HAZMAT and TSA PreCheck programs into one.
“Given that the background check required for all three programs is the same, and given that one government agency manages these programs, we believe that streamlining the enrollment process for individuals seeking multiple credentials is common sense and good government. Importantly, by taking these steps, USDOT can help increase the number of qualified drivers, reduce supply chain backlogs, and support the timely and uninterrupted delivery of essential motor fuel products that drive America’s economy,” the members wrote.