With a fair amount of fanfare, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on July 31,2002 that new regulations would go into effect September 30, 2002 allowing serious traffic violations committed in non-commercial vehicles to count towards disqualification of a driver's Commercial Drivers Licenses.

Since then, the issue has quietly faded away and many wonder what happened to the regulation and whether or not it's still in effect. The answer is yes and no!

The regulation did take effect on September 30, 2002. However, on January 29, 2003 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a technical amendment to the regulation. This amendment contains the following key language:

"The preamble to the 2002 final rule includes a discussion that explicitly acknowledges that offenses are not disqualifying unless the state also finds that the circumstances of the offense warrant revocation, cancellation or suspension."

What this language did was basically gut the regulation. Now, the only way a serious traffic violation in a non-commercial vehicle can count towards disqualification of a CDL, is if the state has specific laws that allow for this. Otherwise the regulation cannot be applied in that state. Additionally, if a state does have such laws in place, a judge can still order that a person's CDL be fully reinstated. The regulation does not override judicial discretion.

What does all this mean? It probably means that very few, if any, serious traffic violations will lead to disqualification of a driver's CDL. Things to keep in mind:

• Carriers have no authority to disqualify a driver. Only FMCSA, the state DMV and judges have that authority. 

• Find out how your state law handles these situations. A few state laws allow for this but most don't. If you deal with drivers from multiple states you will be dealing with multiple approaches.

• Keep your liability in mind. Although a driver may have a valid CDL, if he or she has a serious traffic violation in a non-commercial vehicle this may open your company up to huge liability in the event of an accident involving that driver. Regardless of who's at fault.

• Don't use those driver disqualification forms. Some companies who produce driver qualification packets provide useless CDL disqualification forms. You aren't authorized to disqualify anyone and using these forms could get you and your company in trouble. Big trouble.

Staying in compliance and protecting your liability takes common-sense and diligence. Using quality qualification products also makes a huge difference. See our QualPacs™ for a Quality Driver Qualification System.