Book Description

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA) efforts to implement and enforce the single driver's license and violation notification requirements of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. GAO found that: (1) FHwA, the states, and commercial motor carriers responded to the single license requirement with a major information campaign to identify multiple license holders, resulting in commercial drivers voluntarily surrendering over 42,000 multiple licenses; (2) after FHwA identified and notified potential multiple licensed holders of their noncompliance, it accepted drivers' statements, without accompanying evidence of license surrender, as proof of their compliance; and (3) FHwA will limit enforcement until states fully implement their participation in a national licensing information system. GAO also found that FHwA did not enforce the act's notification requirement, since: (1) commercial drivers did not routinely report their out-of-state convictions to their licensing states; (2) states did not use the information in their licensing decisions; and (3) it did not identify and penalize drivers who violated the requirements.