Illinois Governor Calls CDL Bribery ‘Outrage’

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan told a federal panel that the scandal involving commercial drivers licenses in his state was “an outrage,” but that wrongdoing wasn’t isolated to Illinois and could be worse elsewhere, as in Florida.

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Ryan testified June 6 before a committee formed by the U.S. Department of Transportation at Ryan’s request to try to track drivers who purchased their commercial driver licenses from corrupt state officials. The panel also plans to develop draft recommendations on how to clamp down on corruption within the trucker licensing system by early July, with its final report due in September.

Hundreds of drivers are suspected of having purchased CDLs. The 2-year-old scandal surrounding the activities so far has resulted in the arrest of 31 people, including 14 state employees.

The problem was originally believed to have been confined to Chicago truckers, or those who traded in their Illinois licenses for CDLs in other states.

For the full story, see the June 12 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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