The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has denied a request to shorten CDL disqualification periods for serious offenses committed in a non-commercial vehicle.

But it clarified the rule to make the disqualifications applicable only if the conviction results in revocation, cancellation or suspension of the CDL holders non-CMV license.
Following last year's final rule that imposed CDL penalties for non-CMV violations, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and several other unions filed a petition noting that disqualification periods are significantly longer than state penalties. Specifically, they pointed out that the states don't generally impose lifetime disqualifications for second offenses.
FMCSA acknowledged that the 1999 law mandating the change allowed them to impose less stringent penalties for non-CMV offenses, but the agency said it chose to impose the maximum penalties allowed.
"There is no readily apparent reason why the agency should consider DUI committed by a professional CMV driver to be less severe when committed in a non-CMV during off-duty hours, than in a CMV while on duty," the agency said. "The conviction for such a serious offense in the non-CMV suggests that the CDL holder is more likely to commit the same offense in a CMV, than a CDL holder who has never committed such an offense."
The unions also pointed out the law mandated CDL disqualification for convictions resulting in license revocation, cancellation or suspension of a license by the state, but the final rule does not make that distinction. FMCSA agreed, and has made the clarification.
A third request in the union's petition was that FMCSA come up with a way to disqualify foreign drivers for offenses committed in a non-CMV in their own countries. (Foreign drivers can be disqualified if convicted of a non-CMV DUI in the U.S.) As the rule now stands they argued, penalties discriminate against U.S. drivers.
FMCSA acknowledged "unresolved differences" between consequences for U.S. and foreign drivers but said it's an issue that can't be resolved by the rulemaking process since it involves the laws in other countries. As already stated in last year's final rule, the agency said that it intends to initiate discussions with Mexico and Canada to modify existing CDL reciprocity agreements to include non-CMV convictions in those countries.
Further discussion of the petition and FMCSA's response can be found in the Jan. 29 Federal Register at www.archives.gov/.