Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog
Driver Disqualification: Overview
The CDL requirements set forth certain disqualifying events for a CDL driver. While the regulations are interpreted by the USDOT to mean that only the FMCSA or the State or jurisdiction that issued a CDL may disqualify a driver, this does not mean that a motor carrier with knowledge that a driver has, for example, been cited with DUI while driving a truck is free to ignore that fact.
There are prescribed periods of disqualification for certain types of offenses, and a motor carrier who returns a driver to service after a period of disqualification arguably has a duty to monitor that driver more closely. Knowledge of the disqualifying events defined in the regulations may prompt questions for the motor carrier representative during deposition for which he has not been prepared, and counsel may wish to have him agree that the motor carrier will take a driver off the road once it learns of a serious charge, though it has not been put on notice of a formal conviction.