WASHINGTON — State and local officials have accused the Trump administration of implementing unlawful restrictions against foreign CDL holders, warning that the restrictions will disrupt the trucking economy with zero evidence the crackdown will improve safety.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) that severely restricts how states issue and renew non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits will, by FMCSA’s calculations, strip away commercial license eligibility from approximately 194,000 drivers within two years.
But FMCSA lacks the statutory authority to impose those restrictions and has avoided accountability by not providing advance notice of the changes, according to a coalition of attorneys general from Massachusetts, California, 16 other states and the District of Columbia.
“These unlawful actions have harmed and will continue to harm our states,” the group stated in comments filed on the IFR.
“Public and private employers – including state and local governments – depend on commercial drivers to … drive the trucks that transport food and goods to businesses, and to provide many other indispensable services. The IFR will stop virtually all non-domiciled commercial drivers from performing these essential functions, raising costs and disrupting economic and other important activity across the nation.
“And the IFR will impose obligations directly on the states themselves, forcing them to overhaul their licensing systems and comply with needlessly burdensome requirements. These disruptions came without time for individuals, their families, their employers, or state and local governments to prepare, due to FMCSA’s violation of the advance-consultation and notice-and-comment requirements that Congress mandated to prevent exactly this sort of rule by agency fiat.”
A coalition of local government officials, including those from New York City and Portland, Oregon, asserts that FMCSA fails to connect the immigration status of the CDL holders in five recent fatal crashes cited in the IFR and the fact that the crashes occurred.
“Without such evidence, FMCSA cannot rule out the possibility that holders of non-domiciled CDLs are safer, on average, than their domiciled counterparts,” the group asserted in comments to FMCSA. “There are vastly more fatal crashes associated with domiciled CDLs, but that does not justify restricting their ability to hold a CDL just based on their domiciled status.”
Trucking’s concerns
Even truck industry groups that largely support the Trump administration’s efforts at improving truck safety are alerting the administration on the IFR’s cost and safety consequences.
The Washington Trucking Associations told FMCSA that while its members “strongly support” the objectives of the IFR, limiting eligible nondomiciled to only H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visa holders “has resulted in a significant number of drivers with strong safety records either losing or facing imminent downgrades of their CDLs,” the group stated.
“Removing these proven, safety-conscious drivers from the industry will create a series of unintended economic and safety consequences. Economically, carriers face higher operational costs due to the need to recruit, screen, and train replacement drivers – a process estimated to cost between $7,000 and $20,000 per new hire when factoring in recruitment, staff time, federally mandated pre-employment screening, and training expenses.
“From a safety standpoint, turnover introduces additional risk, as new drivers are less familiar with company equipment, routes, and safety culture – factors well-documented to influence increased crash risk.”
The American Trucking Associations commended the IFR but also acknowledged the large number of CDL downgrades that will result, and that drivers who were legitimately issued a non-domiciled CDL but will not qualify for renewal “should receive advance notice so they and their employers can prepare for the change,” the association stated in its comments.
Not restrictive enough?
For others, the CDL restrictions are not only welcome but there is more that can be done.
The CPAC Foundation Center for Regulatory Freedom, a conservative lobbying group, wants FMCSA to work with the Homeland Security and State departments to investigate the three visa holder classes (H-2A, H-2B, and E-2) still eligible for a non-domiciled CDL.
“Any evidence indicating that these designated visa categories are being disproportionately utilized to obtain non-domiciled CDLs must trigger an immediate reevaluation of their inclusion in this IFR,” according to CPAC. “The security of American lives and critical transportation infrastructure demands nothing less than absolute regulatory integrity.”
