U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is calling out the State of Colorado for perceived delays in a purge of truck licenses that may have been illegal.
Duffy said the state risks losing $24 million in federal highway funding if the state does not immediately pull licenses the U.S. Department of Transportation deems illegal and come into compliance with federal guidelines. Duffy also said his department may decertify the state’s CDL program entirely if it does not comply with federal directives.
“Colorado doesn’t get to pick and choose what federal rules it follows – especially when the driving public is at risk,” Duffy said. “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.”
In October, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ran a nationwide audit that found almost a quarter (22 percent) of Colorado’s non-domiciled commercial drivers’ licenses (CDLs) were issued illegally. The agency said many of the licenses were given to Mexican nationals – a move expressly prohibited under federal guidelines. The state has also allowed non-domiciled CDL expiration dates to exceed the drivers’ lawful presence documents, which the DOT said effectively allowed individuals to drive trucks on American roadways after their legal status to remain in the country had expired.
The DOT said that despite receiving notice of non-compliance, Colorado officials have failed to produce a completed audit or a full accounting of the illegal licenses and is unable to account for how many unqualified drivers are currently on the road, the department said.