California Trucking Association

Today, Governor Brown announced that he signed AB 1888 by Assembly Member Mike Gatto that will allow drivers with a commercial drivers license (CDL) to attend traffic school for minor violations in their personal vehicles, just as any other driver on the road would be able to do.

AB 1888 restores the right of CDL-holders to go to traffic school to have the points held back from hitting their license and putting them at greater risk of losing their license. CTA members asked the question, “Why should a driver be prohibited from going to traffic school for a minor violation that involved their personal car simply because they have a CDL?”

The California Trucking Association, California Teamsters Public Affairs Committee and a number of other business groups supported this new law because it ended discrimination against CDL-holders for the time they are not exercising the professional aspects of their license and helped maintain a qualified pool of professional drivers as the industry faces a shortage.

In accordance with federal law, this new law will still require disclosure of the violation to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for CSA purposes, but the point will not accrue to a driver’s license. While CDL’s are issued by states, the regulations governing state CDL programs are administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The law goes into effect January 1, 2013 and the Department of Motor Vehicles  (DMV) will begin working on implementation of the new law as it does require some programming work on their end.

CTA undertook this effort back in November 2011 at the direction of the Board of Directors following a motion by the Safety, Security and Human Resources Committee.