Trucking Safety Chief to Newsmax: CDL Rules About Safety, Not Immigration

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator (FMCSA) Derek Barrs said Thursday that new scrutiny over commercial driver’s licenses should be viewed as a roadway safety matter rather than an immigration debate.

Appearing on Newsmax’s “National Report,” Barrs emphasized that ensuring qualified drivers operate heavy commercial vehicles is the primary concern.

“At the end of the day, I just really want to talk about the safety aspect of this. This is all about safety,” Barrs said. “This is making sure that we have the most qualified commercial drivers behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle.”

Barrs’ comments came after the California Department of Motor Vehicles criticized federal actions surrounding commercial driver licensing.

The DMV director said in a statement that the federal government was “using their war on immigration to remove qualified, hardworking commercial drivers from our workforce who meet language and safety rules.”

Barrs pushed back on that characterization.

“This is about safety,” he said. “This is making sure that you’ve got the most qualified people. It starts with the driver training schools and then moves forward into when they get behind the wheel.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you’re doing,” he added. “We want to make sure that you have the most qualified driver again behind the wheel. This is not an immigration issue. This is a safety issue.”

Barrs also argued that previous gaps in vetting foreign commercial drivers created concerns about whether they had safe driving records.

“An American driver who wants to get a CDL, they are checking their driver’s record, whether they’ve had speeding tickets, DUIs, for example,” he said.

“A foreign driver who comes over to be a CDL driver, we have no way and had no way of being able to vet whether that person was actually a qualified driver or had a long history of being an unsafe driver.

“We’re trying to level the playing field at this point to ensure that anyone who gets behind a commercial motor vehicle, that they are safe, and their vetting just like an American driver would,” Barrs added.

The discussion also touched on a recently announced policy by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requiring commercial drivers nationwide to take CDL tests in English so they can understand road signs and safety instructions. California had previously offered the test in 20 languages.

Barrs noted that enforcement officials have already taken thousands of drivers off the road over language-related safety concerns.

“Over the last year, we have placed over 14,000 drivers out of service, our law enforcement partners have across the country, for individuals who could not speak the English language, and that’s a safety issue,” he said.

Drawing on his own law enforcement background, Barrs said communication between drivers and officers during roadside inspections is also critical.

“I can tell you from my law enforcement experience and being a roadside officer that it’s very important to have that understanding between the driver and the law enforcement professional who is doing a roadside inspection,” he said.

“At the end of the day, I will always revert back to this is a safety issue and making sure that they understand our road signs on our roadways.”

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