Inside the Non-Domiciled CDL Ruling

We recently sat down with Rob Carpenter, Vice President of Compliance/Managed Services at Trucksafe, and a former broker, to discuss the current non-domiciled CDL ruling and what exactly led him to build a career in compliance.

Rob began his journey in the industry more than 20 years ago as a truck driver, gaining valuable over-the-road experience across multiple segments, including household goods.

After years on the road, Rob took up a position at BlueGrace Logistics as Director of Commercial Services and freight broker, and in 2011 transitioned to Old Dominion Logistics, where he worked as Vice President of Transportation & Terminal Manager, and later Chief Operating Officer.

He eventually moved into risk litigation and compliance after a serious accident involving an illegal immigrant farm truck driver who was on the road with no lights or plates, had left him unable to walk for eight months.

Since entering that side of the industry in 2017, Rob has seen many changes.

 “It was just like the wild west. A lot of people, especially people that are in the truck driving seat now say, ‘We hate regulation. We're so overregulated.’ And I'm like, ‘It's because of us. We cause these things.”

He also spoke about the importance of following compliance laws and regulations as a way to minimize legal exposure.

“The whole point of following a tight compliance program is to be buttoned up so that when things happen, because inevitably things happen, you're not exposed from a legal standpoint.”

When asked about the non-domiciled CDL issue, Rob said the situation began in 2013 in California with the passage of the AB 60 law (The Safe and Responsible Drive Act).

About two million people were licensed in California under this program. Rob says the issue gained national attention about a year and a half ago, when American Truckers United began advocating on the matter and gathered roughly 50,000 supporters.

He explains what is happening to those drivers—who's staying, who's leaving, and how this may impact the freight market.

“It’s hard to say which ones are actually leaving the market because you don't always necessarily just leave if all you've ever known is truck driving. Whether that's leasing your trucks somewhere else to kind of hide them better than you did before, or you're running in different lanes that aren't as enforcement-focused.”

For those wondering about the original purpose of non-domicile licenses, Rob explains.

“One of the articles I wrote, I think two days ago, was encouraging DOT to revoke the authority of California to issue CDLs. And if that were to happen, they would immediately revoke all of these CDLs. Then all these drivers could theoretically go to another state with that revoked CDL and get a non-domiciled CDL in another state, like Nevada or Washington. You literally would be driving your own non-domicile crisis by creating more non-domicile drivers.”

Many of these individuals live in California but would obtain CDLs in another state where they do not reside - contrary to the original intent of the non-domicile policy.

Unfortunately, he said, the system became distorted to the point that individuals who should not legally qualify were able to obtain licenses using alternative documentation.

“It's always been there. We've always had them. Just in California, you're talking 2 million licenses. I'm betting you there's a million illegal non-domicile licenses out there. It's just what it is. And you're kind of in one of those catch-22s where they're out there, they have IDs that could facilitate a license elsewhere. So even if you cut it off in California, they could theoretically go somewhere else and do it.”

How much of this is Duffy just applying pressure on California?

“He can take their ability to issue CDL licenses, and it would affect every CDL driver in that state, because if CDLs are no longer legitimate in California, that's a lot of people out of work. You're talking about a state that pretty much controls a large portion of our produce and food market.”

It wouldn't just affect California. It'll affect California licensed drivers all across the country.