13,000 Truck Drivers Lose Licenses in California as License Crackdown Hits Supply Chain

Revoked

Around 13,000 immigrant truck drivers recently had their licenses revoked in California. The Federal Government forced the state to cancel the licenses of these truck drivers after barring the state’s DMV from fixing the situation.

Truck driver shortages could become a problem for the state in both the short and long terms. Now 13,000 drivers short, logistics in the state could take a hit. However, regulators are also pausing the state’s DMV from issuing new Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs), which could be a bigger problem in the future.

The Root of the Issue

It’s one problem on top of another between California and the Feds. Commercial truck drivers who are legally in the United States but not citizens or permanent residents are affected. These include individuals with visas, refugee or asylum status, and work permits who hold CDLs in California. Classified as non-domiciled commercial drivers, the root cause stems from the DMV’s mistakes when it issued CDLs with mismatched expiry dates relative to the individual’s legal stay in the U.S.

Instead of allowing the DMV to fix the issue, the Federal Government cancelled the licenses altogether. A total of around 13,000 drivers just lost their licenses, with no way to get them reissued for now because the Federal Government has paused the DMV’s ability to process new CDLs.

California Industry Will Take A Hit

Now, California is down by about 13,000 commercial drivers in the trucking sector. The industry is already strained, since California is one of the states that moves the most goods. The DMV is working to help get as many driver’s licenses back as soon as possible.

“This federal administration is using their war on immigration to remove qualified, hardworking, commercial drivers from our workforce,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon to NBC San Diego. The state’s government is pushing back on the decision. The shortage will affect a significant portion of California’s industry, as the trucking sector loses a large share of its workforce.

Currently, the California DMV is working to get these drivers back, but with the Federal Government putting a pause on license reissuance, truck drivers might have to prepare for a completely different long-haul. Still, the state’s DMV is working on a legal solution to alleviate the burden on the some 13,000 affected truck drivers.