A new plan from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would restrict non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses after an ongoing audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and a series of fatal crashes caused by non-domiciled drivers.
Duffy said the new regulations would restrict who is eligible for CDLs and non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs), and would be effective immediately. The U.S. Department of Transportation said the FMCSA audit found a pattern of states issuing licenses illegally to foreign drivers. Additionally, the audit found that if the current regulatory framework is followed, it can fail. The DOT called the combination of those two things an “imminent hazard on America’s roadways that must be fixed.” The new rule, the department said, would close loopholes and hold states accountable.
“What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” Duffy said. “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers – oftentimes illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses.”
The FMCSA audit found that systemic non-compliance with non-domiciled CDLs happened across the country, with the most violations happening in California. The agency found a large number of non-domiciled CDLs were issued in that state to drivers who were ineligible and to drivers whose licenses were valid after their lawful presence in the United States had expired.
The audit found that more than 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were improperly issued. Some of the licenses extended as many as four years beyond the expiration date of their lawful presence documentations.
Duffy said the FMCSA would take enforcement action against California and require it to pause its issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, to identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations, and to revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced it had canceled 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses. The FMCSA said if California does not come into full compliance with the new regulations within 30 days, it will withhold federal highway funds from the state.
The agency identified Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington as other states with licensing patterns that are not consistent with federal regulations.