The Department of Transportation is imposing new limits to “drastically restrict” individuals from outside the United States from getting industrial driver’s licenses, and is threatening to withhold freeway funds from states that don’t agree to comply.
“The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely, 100%, broken,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned Friday in a information convention. “It has become a threat to public safety and it requires action right now.”
So known as “non-domiciled” industrial licenses enable people who find themselves not US residents or everlasting residents to get a license to drive automobiles, together with giant transport vans. They don’t apply to Mexican or Canadian residents, who’re permitted underneath a distinct course of.
Friday, Duffy introduced a new “emergency rule” which matches into impact instantly, forcing states to “pause” issuing the non-domiciled licenses till they will adjust to the new restrictions.
Prospective drivers should now meet stricter guidelines together with offering an unexpired overseas passport and particular visas permitting the driver to work in the United States. Licenses should expire inside one 12 months, or the identical date as the work authorization, whichever comes first. People not in the nation legally can’t be issued licenses.
“Current federal regulations are allowing dangerous, unqualified drivers on American roadways,” Duffy mentioned. “This means that, even when the rules are being followed, dangerous individuals who shouldn’t be near a big rig are getting behind the wheel and causing crashes on our roadways.”
The rule doesn’t revoke anybody’s license who already has a CDL, nevertheless Duffy mentioned they’re methods to make it retroactive.
“States are failing to follow even the most basic procedures,” Duffy mentioned. “Thousands of licenses that should never have been issued actually were issued.”
He cited a number of current crashes involving non-domiciled truck drivers, together with one in Texas in March the place a truck driver failed to cease at a visitors slowdown, inflicting a chain-reaction crash that killed 5 individuals. This week the driver was indicted for 22 counts, together with manslaughter.
In August on the Florida Turnpike a truck driver making an illegal U-turn was hit by a minivan, killing the three individuals inside. The Trump administration mentioned the truck driver was in the US illegally and was issued a piece allow and driver’s license by the state of California. He was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter.
California is considered one of 19 states, as well as to the District of Columbia, that points licenses regardless of immigration status, which Duffy known as “deeply disturbing.”
The Department of Transportation introduced further enforcement motion in opposition to the state of California for what it says is the state persevering with to concern licenses illegally underneath the present federal requirements.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigators discovered 1 / 4 of all non-domiciled CDLs they reviewed in the state from June weren’t issued in accordance with present federal guidelines.
Duffy cited one instance the place California gave a driver from Brazil a license to drive a faculty bus for months after his authorized presence in the nation expired. In two different examples he mentioned drivers who shouldn’t have been eligible for a license got ones that prolonged for years after their work authorization expired.
“It shows a reckless disregard for safety in California, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” Duffy mentioned. “If California doesn’t comply, we’re going to withhold federal highway funds.”
The DOT says California has 30 days to repair these issues, together with instantly pausing issuing non-domiciled CDLs, auditing the licenses and reissuing CDLs which weren’t issued in accordance of the legislation.
If the state doesn’t comply the federal authorities will withhold $160 million in freeway funds, doubling the whole if it continues right into a second 12 months.
The state will reply to the letter in the end, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom informed NCS, however famous the state’s accident data.
“California commercial driver’s license holders had a fatal crash rate nearly 40% LOWER than the national average,” the governor’s Deputy Director of Communications Diana Crofts-Pelayo mentioned. “Texas — the only state with more commercial holders — has a rate almost 50% higher than California.”
Earlier this week the California State Transportation Agency responded to the DOT, which proposed sanctions in August for the state not correctly requiring CDL drivers to converse English.
“California’s laws, regulations, standards, and orders are either identical to or have the same effect as the federal safety requirements,” Alicia Fowler, the company’s normal counsel, wrote. “California has complied and will continue to comply with applicable federal laws and regulations.”
Duffy mentioned the actions taken Friday in opposition to California ought to serve as a warning to every other state that’s not following the legislation.
“Our team identified non-domiciled CDLs that were issued improperly in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and in Washington. Those states should know that enforcement actions against them are forthcoming,” he mentioned. “My message, it’s very simple, get into compliance now, or we’ll pull funding and we’ll force you into compliance.”