Every driver of a commercial vehicle – a truck or bus – must hold a current commercial driver’s license, the CDL. Motor carriers and truck drivers are familiar with the CDL requirement. They understand that truck drivers must pass a written test and a driving test. They know that a medical exam is required and that CDLs can be “downgraded” (revoked) for drug and alcohol violations and for a history of unsafe driving. But what is often not understood is the work that goes on behind the scenes at the state driver licensing agencies (SDLAs).
State driver licensing agencies coordinate with each other through the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS). CDLIS was established under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/uscode/uscode1982-04404/uscode1982-044049a036/uscode1982-044049a036.pdf) and is based on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations in 49 CFR 383 and 384 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-383).
SDLAs use CDLIS to achieve the twin goals of a) only one commercial driver’s license and b) only one commercial driver history for any individual. CDLIS helps SDLAs complete commercial driver license procedures such as:
- Transmitting out-of-state convictions, withdrawals and disqualifications
- Transferring the driver record when a CDL holder moves to another state
- Responding to requests for driver status and history
Truck driver personal information is protected by the CDLIS “pointer system.” When a CDL holder seeks to renew a license or transfer it from another state, the SDLA makes an inquiry of the CDLIS site and is “pointed” to any U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction which holds records about the driver. The display of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is limited until the driver proceeds with the transaction.
Recently, the capabilities of CDLIS have expanded to include SDLA access to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse (https://www.prepassalliance.org/drug-alcohol-violations-will-result-in-a-cdl-downgrade/) and to the electronic transmission of medical exam reports directly from FMCSA to the SDLAs (https://www.prepassalliance.org/truck-driver-medical-exam-results-going-digital/). Both developments help ensure that only qualified and safe commercial drivers are on the road.
The success of CDLIS has spawned efforts at the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to create a State-to-State (S2S) system based on the CDLIS “pointer system” for non-commercial drivers licenses and history. And that is good news for trucking – after all, new truck drivers begin as non-commercial drivers, while assuring that only qualified and safe drivers are on the road with truckers leads to improved highway safety for all.