CDL Reform Plan Making Rounds

Related Stories CDL retest set for 1,000 more. (April 26) CDL scandal yields 13th arrest. (April 19) New charges in Illinois CDL scandal. (April 9) Lawmakers seek CDL crackdown. (March 29) Inconsistencies said to be hobgoblins of CDL testing. (March 17) So-called CDL mills churn out test passers, not safe drivers. (March 17) Another Illinois state worker charged in CDL scandal. (Feb. 12) (Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

The five-year plan would crack down on inefficiencies in states’ CDL testing and compliance systems, improve the exchange of commercial driver citation and conviction data, and tighten safeguards against licensing fraud.

The Federal Highway Administration’s draft executive summary offers Congress three possible funding levels for the reform program, ranging from $8 million to $11 million over the next five fiscal years.

FHWA’s Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety has also developed in draft form a Highway Safety Action Plan, which includes proposals related to the licensing program. At the heart of the three-year plan is an agency recommitted to enforcement and the targeting of high-risk carriers and drivers.

“The safety action plan has been circulated for comment among industry, DOT [Department of Transportation], congressional and safety partners,” said Julie Cirillo, program manager at OMCHS. “The comments received are being reviewed. The activities included in the plan are ongoing, and it is our intention that partner input will help improve the plan.”

For the full story, see the May 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.