Opinion: Virginia’s Troops to Trucks Program

By Richard D. Holcomb

Commissioner

Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

This Opinion piece appears in the Oct. 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Problem No. 1: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in August stood at 8.1%. The unemployment rate among our nation’s veterans who served from September 2001 to the present stood at a disgraceful 10.9%.

Problem No. 2: According to the American Transportation Research Institute’s “Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry Report for 2011,” the driver shortage is a critical issue facing the trucking industry. And this newspaper reports that the driver shortage will only get worse as the economy and freight movement grows.

With the availability of so many recently discharged veterans, many of whom have operated heavy vehicles, and the need for qualified drivers, one would think that Washington would find a way to expedite the marriage of the availability with the need. And while Congress should be commended for highlighting the issue through the Wicker Amendment to the Defense Reauthorization and language in the recently enacted Highway Reauthorization Bill, we see no immediate action. The mandated study — and report to Congress — and enactment of necessary legislation and promulgation of regulations will take years, while our unemployed veterans continue to suffer.

The solution: The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has a solution that is in place. DMV has joined forces with military and transportation-related businesses to put former servicemen and women to work through our Troops to Trucks program.

Virginia is an ideal place to launch this first-in-the-nation program because we have:

• More than 823,000 veterans.

• More than 20 major military installations.

• Approximately 63,000 active-duty military.

• A governor, Bob McDonnell, who is making Virginia the most military- and veteran-friendly state in the nation.

With military and industry partners, we provide our military personnel with training, testing, credentialing and viable avenues for employment in commercial motor vehicle operation.

At a Sept. 7 event at the Richmond headquarters of Estes Express Lines, Rep. Eric Cantor declared that Troops to Trucks “is a solution to a problem that, frankly, Washington has not been able to address.”

Here’s how our program works.

Skills Test Waiver — One Less Test: On July 1 we began waiving the road-skill test requirement for military commercial driver license (CDL) holders as permitted under 49 CFR 383.77 for drivers with military commercial vehicle (CMV) experience, as certified by their commanding officer. The waiver allows us to streamline the CDL process for military personnel and eliminate the burden for them of providing a CMV for the test. To date, 31 recently discharged members of the military have had their skills test waived.

Empowering for Employment: For those without experience, we have established training and testing through our Virginia-based military partners by certifying Marine Corp Base Quantico (home to the Traffic Safety Branch), Fort Lee (home of the U.S. Army Transportation School), and Fort Pickett (home of the Virginia Army National Guard) as third-party testers.

Certification was made after thoroughly reviewing the curriculum, classroom, equipment and the routes and maneuvers used for the skill testing and concluding that everything met or exceeded Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and DMV requirements.

As third-party testers, the installations conduct initial classroom training to prepare applicants to take the knowledge test and receive their Commercial Instruction Permit. Once the military base informs DMV that it has a class ready to take the test, we dispatch one of our mobile customer service centers — otherwise known as DMV2Go — which are equipped to administer all tests. As applicants complete our application for a CIP, they also complete our Placement Interest Questionnaire, identifying the type of CMV they would like to drive and their preferred employment location.

Upon passing the examination, applicants are issued the CIP through DMV2Go and return to the base for behind-the-wheel training and testing. After applicants pass the skills test administered by the base, DMV2Go returns to issue their CDLs.

DMV also is working with the military to ensure that applicants have the necessary medical certifications.

Virginia’s DMV is the first in the nation to have all its CDL examiners certified to administer the federal Skills Performance Evaluation, and our Troops to Trucks program now can be opened to wounded warriors with missing or impaired limbs.

Once the service member is credentialed, DMV “shops” the questionnaire, based on the type of CMV identified, through our partners — the Virginia Trucking Association, the Virginia Motor Coach Association and the Virginia Association of Pupil Transportation — to identify at least three potential employers. DMV then provides the suggested employers with the questionnaires and contact information for the potential employees.

We also share the questionnaire with the Virginia Department of Transportation for potential employment in the public sector.

We hope this process will help solve the driver shortage issue for our Virginia-based program, but because we know states share full reciprocity regarding CDLs, our Virginia-issued CDL can be exchanged for the veteran’s home state, giving our program national influence.

Bottom line: Through our Troops to Trucks program, we will help put Virginia’s veterans to work and inspire other state DMVs to do likewise.

The author has been DMV commissioner under Virginia governors Bob McDonnell (2010 to present), George Allen and Jim Gilmore (1994-2001). Holcomb was American Trucking Associations’ general counsel from 2001 to 2010.