House Bills Seek to Ease Veterans’ Path into Trucking
Photo: United States Navy
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Photo: United States Navy
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Acting in bipartisan fashion, as it often does, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved two bills on March 24 intended to make it easier for military personnel and veterans to obtain Commercial Driver Licenses. Both expand on initiatives aimed at helping vets become truckers that were included in the FAST Act highway bill that became law in 2015.
The Active Duty Voluntary Acquisition of Necessary Credentials for Employment (ADVANCE) Act (H.R. 2258) would exempt active duty military and reserve personnel “with qualifying experience” from certain testing requirements when they seek to obtain a CDL. The bill was introduced by Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA).
The ADVANCE Act has been endorsed by the American Trucking Associations and the Association of the United States Navy, which lobbies Congress on behalf of active, former and retired USN sailors.
“This is a common-sense measure that will help our brave men and women find work here in the Inland Empire,” said Rep. Aguilar in a statement. “While we hear every day that Washington is broken and compromised by partisan gridlock, we can clearly see that there are issues that both parties can get behind.”
The second bill (H.R. 2547) expands the Veterans Expanded Trucking Opportunities (VETOPPS) legislation, which passed as part of the FAST Act, by allowing additional medical professionals in the Veterans Administration system, such as advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, who are qualified for listing on the National Registry to use a new online training course “so that VA physicians can become certified to conduct DOT physicals without excessive financial and travel requirements.” The bill was introduced by Reps. Rob Woodall (R-GA) and Julia Brownley (D-CA).
According to the House committee, since only 33% of certified medical examiners are medical doctors, opening this program up to the other 67% of qualified medical …Read the rest of this story
