Who is responsible?
 

A driver has a medical condition(prior heart condition) that requires a doctor visit every year(not a DOT physical) and the doctor fails to send/the state fails to recieve the medical report and the CDL license is revoked,the driver put OOS at a scale,and the carrier gets an unquilified driver on the record.
Who is responsible to insure that the medical,license,ect are valid?
Have been dealing with this for five days,FMSCA,WIDOT,ILDOT and attorneys. There are conflicting state/federal statutes.
How about the two resident "experts"?

I would say ultimately it is up to the driver to ensure that his certification is valid. But that's without checking any FMCSA regulations, which I have absolutely no intention of doing this weekend.

Uturn will be with you shortly. In the meantime... I will chime in.

I believe some of this was discussed on the following thread:

http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/r...1-30-09-a.html

If you read the ruling, [link provided on that thread] which is extremely long and "busy," you MAY find an answer to your question.

Without checking further (and I'm not sure you will find the answer IN the regs...) I would have to agree with the Rev that, especially following this new ruling, the DRIVER is going to be the one held responsible for making sure that ALL medical information has been reported to the State Licencing Agency from now on.

Not saying that the carrier shouldn't do THEIR part in preventing this to cover their OWN butts, but.... the CDL was revoked, under the new rule, due to the DRIVER not ensuring that the information was received by the DMV.

As for your discussion with your attorney, however.... I THINK I remember something in that ruling about a certain amount of "grace period" for this ruling to become well known and adhered to. I suggest that HE should read the ruling, and deal with WIDOT and ILDOT.

In fact... I don't remember reading that the CDL could be "revoked" for failure to notify UNTIL it comes up for renewal. THAT is when you would lose your CDL privileges according to the ruling. Actually.... I think I remember that the ruling says that you must be NOTIFIED by the DMV within 30 days of a revocation, giving you time to present the info.

The very idea OF this ruling is to provide the DOT AT the scale, or on the side of the road, to access a database that would show whether your CDL is valid or not based on Medical certification. We are no longer allowed to CARRY some certification (that could be forged) to prove our way out of an OOS. The doctor MUST send the info to the DMV, and it is up to US to make sure it was done.

Sounds like the system IS working! It is a shame that Safety Directors, or other company personnel, haven't made this new ruling CLEAR to anyone and everyone who works for them who might be affected by it.

Keep us posted. And if I can help you "comprehend" the ruling, I will do my best as I have time. But, it IS a very "busy" ruling!

Maybe i wasn't clear enough. It was not a DOT physical. It was a medical review. Large difference there. I just thought it might be interesting to see the views on this.
There are three civil actions and two criminal actions in this case.I can insure you that my comprehension of the law is more than the ability to copy and paste a regulation.

I understood that it wasn't a DOT physical. I would still say that it is up to the driver to ensure the review was properly sent in and received.

In the civil case with the driver it is 100% on the doctor.
In the criminal case the driver is responsible to ensure his license was valid. Thats where the conflicting laws come in.
I wasn't looking for help on the regs,i know them very well. Just wondered how many would be up in arms over someone screwing up a drivers license. The end result is the driver will have an operating a CMV without a valid license on his record and i will have a "using an unqualified driver" on mine.

Sure - I'd be upset over the doctor screwing up the license, and he will likely pay dearly for it in civil court (as he should). But the fact remains that at the time, his license wasn't valid, for whatever reason. And it is up to the holder of the license to make sure that it is valid, and the motor carrier to make sure those who drive for them are properly licensed to do so.

But yeah, it sounds like a sucky situation.

I'm not disagreeing with any of it. There is no "punitive" damages to the driver as i'm not about to terminate because of this. The doctors insurance will pay the actual costs to the driver and myself. I had a simular situation 10-11 years back,appealed to the DOT and won. Waiting for the word back from Madison on that. Would be easier if this state would give an auto-update on a license but we're a little behind the times.

Of course it is a DOT physical. The driver's medical certificate may be vaild for 30/90 days, six months, one or two years. If it wasn't a DOT physical why was the driver placed OOS as not qualified?

Hate to disagree but the states only accepts DOT certs. There would be no need for a physicain to send the document unless it requalified the driver.

Was the driver in interstate or intrastate commerce at the time of the stop?

If it was interstate commerce the federal rules apply, if it was intrastate state laws apply.

You will not find a federal rule regarding who is responsible for sending in the report.

In Wisconsin if a driver's DOT cert is not on file the CDL reverts to an intrastate only CDL.

Illinois does not currently have a requirement for the medical cert to be on file.

In Indiana if the medical cert is not on file the CDL is reverted to a regualr driver's license.

I take it IL placed a WI based driver OOS.

It is the driver's responsibility to ensure the medical cert is on file as required. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure the driver is qualified to operate the vehicle.

Be safe.

I would rather that you, as a Carrier, "Assured" me, that you comprehend the regulations.

:p