Publication Details


Truck drivers: Licensing and monitoring. An analysis with recommendations

Type: Paper

Subtype: Summary report

Author(s): Waller, Patricia F.; Li, Livia K.

Pages: 222

Publisher: UNC Highway Safety Research Center

Url: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/40114/

Publication Date: Sept-1980

Address: Chapel Hill, NC

Abstract: This project addressed the licensing requirements for drivers of heavy trucks and the feasibility of federal licensing of these drivers. Data analyses indicate that heavy trucks pose a problem, but many of the key questions cannot be adequately answered on the basis of available data. Although the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (BMCS) and state regulatory authorities have responsibility for the qualification and monitoring of many of the drivers of concern, in actual practice they are unable to insure that all drivers are qualified. Licensing recommendations cover verifications of driver identity; medical requirements; vision, knowledge, and skills testing; and an interstate identification file that is checked whenever a license is first issued in any state. Federal standards with enforceable sanctions will probably be necessary to encourage states to upgrade their programs. However, a cooperative state program should be far more effective and less costly than a federal licensing program.