In a July 14, 2021 report, the USDOT Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluded the FMCSA "has gaps and challenges in its oversight of CDL disqualification regulations." The report stems from the OIG's self-initiated investigation of the FMCSA's CDL program, following a 2019 accident in which a commercial driver licensed in Massachusetts killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire, less than six weeks after Connecticut had suspended his driving privileges for refusing to take a drug test.
As detailed in the report, the FMCSA has primary oversight of the Commercial Drivers' Licensing program, which is jointly administered by the states. Parts 383 and 384 of the federal safety regulations govern the program and require, among other things, states to timely process and transmit conviction data to other states.
The OIG's investigation revealed that states of conviction did not timely transmit electronic conviction notifications 17% of the time. Further, approximately 11% of major offenses were not timely posted and around 2% never posted to a driver's record at all, meaning some drivers who should have been disqualified under the federal safety regulations for major offenses were not. The OIG concluded the FMCSA lacks adequate quality control measures for verifying that state CDL programs meet the federal requirements. It made seven specific recommendations to strengthen the FMCSA's oversight, including improving and standardizing state conviction notifications and working to improve the agency's annual CDL program review process. According to the report, the FMCSA acknowledges the deficiencies and plans to address them soon.
