Bituminous Insurance Companies

GAO Releases Study on Drivers with Serious Medical Conditions

Little is known on the extent to which individuals with serious medical conditions hold Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). The Government Accounting Office (GAO) was requested by Congress to do a study on this issue. GAO conducted the study by comparing certain federal disability databases, where individuals were declared 100 percent disabled, against a database of CDL drivers. Their search identified 563,000 CDL holders determined to be 100 percent disabled. This population represented more than 4 percent of CDL drivers.

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) require interstate drivers to pass a medical examination and be certified every two years, intrastate CDL drivers are subject to a variety of other regulations. The States have adopted different levels of control to verify that CDL applicants meet the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) medical certification requirements. Twenty-five States, or 50 percent, allow drivers to self-certify that they meet the requirements. The self-certification is often simply a check-box on the CDL application. Eighteen States, or 36 percent, require that the commercial driver show the FMCSR medical certificate to the driver licensing agency at the time of application. Further, 6 States, or 12 percent, not only require that the driver show the FMCSR medical certificate at the time of application, but a motor carrier must also maintain a copy of the certificate in the driving records of the applicant. One State did not respond to GAO inquiries.

While GAO presented a sample of 15 CDL drivers that had serious medical complications (and should not be driving a commercial vehicle), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) pointed out that in 9 of the 15 cases the driver was neither certified nor evaluated by a medical examiner. FMCSA is currently evaluating the possibility of requiring all CDL holders to meet the current medical and certification requirements of the FMCSR.

The complete GAO report, Commercial Drivers - Certification Process for Drivers with Serious Medical Conditions, can be accessed at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08826.pdf.

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The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ISO Services Properties, Inc., its companies and employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with either the information herein contained or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedure.