Violations for Downgraded CDL- Revision to Inspection Bulletin

There is currently some confusion on which code in 49 CFR is applicable to downgraded CDL's, due to medical cards not being uploaded to the state. Some states are canceling both operator and CDL privileges and others only the CDL privileges. Sometimes it is obvious it's a CDL downgrade due to a medical issue. Other times it appears the driver is disqualified. CVSA inspection bulletin 2015-04 was created to address this issue. The bulletin references 49 CFR 383.23(a)(2) as the correct code for the medical certificate downgrade. In the inspection bulletin in parenthesis it says, (e.g. cancelled, downgraded, disqualified, revoked, suspended, etc.). In many cases, the CDLIS or NLETS return looks like the drivers privileges are more in line with a disqualified driver than a simple downgrade and the proper code would be 383.51, which is more in line with FMCSA guidance issued in July 2012. This is related to other older issue requests and the use of 383.23(a)(2) for corrective lenses violations (13-021-DRV), for violations of a license restriction (13-022-DRV), and for violations of corrective lense or hearing aid restrictions (13-044-DRV).

The inspection bulletin needs to be revisted and the committee needs to verify the codes in the out of service criteria. This ultimately is tied to CSA and the scores carriers receive for the violations. They believe 383.23(a)(2) unfairly penalizes them in some cases.

The committee needs to look at the inspection bulletin and update it if necessary. They need to verify the codes being used are correct and if so this issue should be forwarded to FMCSA to potentially address from a CSA perspective.