The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association thanks US Reps Rob Woodall (R-GA) and Tim Walz (D-MN) for introducing legislation that will make it easier for veterans seeking jobs in the trucking industry to receive their commercial driver's licenses by removing an unnecessary barrier created by federal regulators. The VetOpps bill, HR 3739, will allow qualified Veterans Administration physicians to perform medical exams required by the Department of Transportation in order to obtain a CDL.
“We’d like to thank Representatives Woodall and Walz for their support of veterans and the trucking industry,” said Todd Spencer, executive vice-president of OOIDA. “Trucking has always been an attractive career option when veterans return to civilian life and they should not have to deal with a mountain of red tape in order to enter or remain in the industry.”
The bill allows a VA physician to perform DOT medical exams for veterans who have been discharged or released from military service. The provisions of the bill require that physicians be familiar with federal commercial driving fitness requirements and that they have never fraudulently awarded a medical certificate. Veterans must also have been discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable.
Currently, federal regulations allow only medical practitioners to perform DOT physicals that have gone through a costly and time-consuming process. Those practitioners must then be listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME).
Though well-intentioned, this fairly new rule finalized in 2014 has created an obstacle for veterans, and even many civilians, seeking or renewing a commercial driver’s license since only a fraction of otherwise qualified physicians have completed the certification process.
“We thank the sponsors of this bill for supporting small-business truckers with this legislation since current rules have raised costs unnecessarily and possibly even taken some of the safest drivers off the roads,” said Spencer. “Small-businesses make up the majority of the industry and have the safest drivers. With more than a third of truckers having been veterans, we should make it easier, not harder, for them to keep working or stay in business.”