Commercial Driver’s License

Beyond the Wheel. How to Commoditize Your CDL and Driving Experience for Better Opportunity

Truck driving is often seen as a straightforward profession. Spend a few weeks in school. Get your CDL, hit the road, and keep the supply chain moving. But the reality doesn’t always match the expectation. Long hours, stagnant pay and evolving industry chaos leave many drivers questioning whether they chose the right career.

Some entered the industry for the freedom of the open road, only to find themselves bogged down by regulations, terrible employers and poor working conditions. Others signed...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/beyond-the-wheel-how-to-commoditize-your-cdl-and-driving-experience-for-better-opportunity

Senate approves bill to help vets get CDLs

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has approved legislation aimed at making it easier for military veterans to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

The Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act of 2023 was discharged from the Committee on Veterans Affairs and considered and passed by the full Senate by unanimous consent on Thursday.

The legislation, backed by the American Trucking Associations and the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, removes a two-year waiting period currently required...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/senate-approves-bill-to-help-vets-get-cdls

Senate confirms new FMCSA head

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Meera Joshi as the seventh administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

FMCSA, formerly part of the Federal Highway Administration, was established as an agency within the Department of Transportation on Jan. 1, 2000, with its primary mission to prevent truck-related deaths and injuries.

Joshi, who has led the FMCSA as deputy administrator since January, will be sworn in later this month as the trucking industry struggles to keep up with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-senate-confirms-joshi-to-lead-fmcsa

FMCSA issues new driver-ban rules for drug and alcohol abusers

States have until November 2024 to comply with a new requirement that they ban drivers with drug and alcohol violations from operating a truck before completing the return-to-duty process.

The rule is scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on Thursday. It resulted from a 2020 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposal requiring state agencies to stop issuing, renewing or upgrading commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) or commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) to drivers with drug...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-issues-new-driver-ban-rules-for-drug-and-alcohol-abusers

FMCSA head commits to boosting oversight of trucking

The nation’s top trucking regulator told lawmakers she is committed to taking concrete steps to reduce deaths and injuries from large-truck crashes.

At her nomination hearing on Wednesday to be the seventh administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Meera Joshi, currently leading the agency as deputy administrator, was questioned by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., about what he considers a lack of oversight by FMCSA in addressing such crashes.

“I think it’s clear that this...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-head-commits-to-boosting-oversight-of-trucking

Werner: Exemption will get drivers employed faster amid ‘historic driver shortage’

Werner Enterprises is banking on a commercial learner’s permit (CPL) exemption not only to boost operational productivity but to help the company get its drivers employed faster.

In an application filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in July, the Omaha, Nebraska-based truckload carrier asserted current federal regulations are keeping it from immediately employing new drivers because drivers are no longer issued a temporary CDL after passing the CDL skills test.

Temporary...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/werner-exemption-will-get-drivers-employed-faster-amid-historic-driver-shortage

Watchdog knocks FMCSA on CDL compliance oversight

Gaps in how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration oversees state CDL programs threaten the agency’s ability to prevent large truck crashes, a federal watchdog agency warns.

A performance audit conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) between November 2019 and May 2021 revealed that a portion of state CDL agencies were not properly transmitting electronic notifications of truck driver convictions, the oversight of which is part of FMCSA’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/watchdog-knocks-fmcsa-on-cdl-compliance-oversight

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