WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s effort to clamp down on the licensing of foreign-domiciled truck drivers has moved into its final stage of executive oversight.
“Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled CDLs,” an Interim Final Rule (IFR) published in September, is now officially “pending review” at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The move means that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has finalized its response to thousands of comments filed in the wake of the rule’s issuance and is now seeking a final green light from the administration’s budget and policy experts.
OMB has a 90-day window to complete its review, though it can move faster for high-priority items. Once cleared, the rule returns to the FMCSA for formal publication in the Federal Register, which will trigger the official compliance countdown for states and motor carriers.
FMCSA’s IFR, which mandates strict immigration verification for non-resident CDL and Commercial Learner’s Permit holders and applicants, was placed in abeyance by a federal court in December to allow the agency to process over 8,000 public comments, ranging from support from truck industry lobbying groups to major pushback from certain states and law-abiding truckers asserting they’re safe to be on the road.
Under the new standards, states must verify and retain copies of foreign passports and Form I-94 for non-domiciled drivers, restricted to specific employment-based visa categories like H-2A and H-2B. FMCSA argues these steps are critical following several high-profile fatal crashes involving foreign drivers with non-domiciled credentials.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, one of the strongest backers of the rule, argues that non-domiciled licenses have historically bypassed the rigorous vetting and English-proficiency standards required of U.S. citizens, which has “resulted in improperly licensed foreign drivers flooding U.S. highways.”
Law enforcement officials have also supported the crackdown, citing first-hand views of non-compliance and citing instances of individuals with valid CDLs but who lacked legal work authorization.
But organizations like the Sikh Coalition and various labor groups have warned that the IFR is stripping thousands of legally authorized workers of their livelihoods. Attorneys General from18 states and the District of Columbia have challenged the rule’s legality, arguing that FMCSA lacks data proving that non-domiciled status inherently correlates with lower highway safety, calling the rule “arbitrary and capricious.”
The American Trucking Associations, which generally supports FMCSA’s CDL enforcement efforts, recommended that a final rule include a transition period.
“Given FMCSA’s estimation that this rule will result in a significant number of CDL downgrades (roughly 194,000), it is important that drivers be provided reasonable time to notify their employers,” ATA stated, or, alternatively, “that FMCSA establish a mechanism to ensure motor carriers are promptly informed when a driver’s CDL has been downgraded.”
Related articles:
FMCSA defends foreign driver restrictions despite backlash
Non-Domiciled CDL Emergency Rule could cause capacity crunch
Trucking advised to audit all drivers to limit CDL liability
Insurance companies likely to take hard stance on non-domiciled CDLs
Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.
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