Active-duty military members, reservists and veterans will soon be able to use Veterans Affairs medical examiners to obtain their DOT medical certifications. President Donald Trump signed into law this week a bill to allows non-physician examiners to perform exams of drivers.
The law, dubbed the “Jobs for Our Heroes Act,” will allow Department of Veterans Affairs advanced practice nurses, chiropractors, physicians assistants and others, in addition to VA medical doctors, to perform driver medical exams. The exmainer must be familiar with CDL medical standards and must never have been found to have fraudulently awarded a medical certificate.
A formal rulemaking from the DOT will be needed to enact the legislation.
Additionally, the law applies CDL testing standards for military veterans to current active-duty military members and reservists. This allows current military members who have experience driving trucks in the service to apply for an exemption from the CDL skills test, and in some cases, the knowledge test as well.
Trump also signed into law this week a two-bill package to help cut down on human trafficking in the U.S. These laws will permanently disqualify anyone convicted of a human trafficking violation involving a commercial vehicle from holding a CDL, and establish a human trafficking prevention coordinator with the U.S. DOT.
