The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that it will increase weekend hours for commercial driving exams and shift examiners from other regions of the state to Southern California, where more truckers are required to pull containers from backlogged ports.
Three more DMV locations – Fullerton, Montebello, and Winnetka – will now provide Saturday commercial driving test appointments, bringing the total number of Saturday test sites to 15. To considerably increase capacity, the agency began offering an extra testing day at select sites earlier this year, as well as training more employees to administer the examinations and redirecting examiners to the areas of greatest demand.
“There is a pressing need in California to expand the number of safe truck drivers who move goods. “Our objective is to allow everyone who needs to take a commercial driver’s license test to do so within 30 days if they fulfill the qualifications,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “Prospective commercial drivers can acquire an appointment for a test within a week, depending on where they live.”
Each month, the DMV administers over 5,000 commercial driving exams across the state. The DMV intends to add 4,700 appointments each month after the planned staffing adjustments are completely implemented, along with additional Saturday testing. The agency stated that Southern California is its main emphasis for staffing because the greater Los Angeles area has the largest demand for exams. It will keep track of appointment availability and make adjustments if it begins to lag in other areas.
There is no scarcity of drayage drivers, according to the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents motor carriers that move containers between the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. The issue, according to the report, is that marine terminals have rigorous restrictions regarding returning empty containers to swap for loaded ones, discouraging truckers from making excursions.
Last month, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is collaborating with state motor vehicle divisions to reduce red tape and speed up the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses in order to get more competent drivers on the road.
The DMV action comes after California and the US Department of Transportation formed a strategic partnership to coordinate planning for freight-related infrastructure projects, as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order for agencies to find overflow container storage yards and identify freight routes that could be exempted from the gross vehicle weight limit.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the DMV has attempted to keep drivers on the road by allowing them to do business without having to visit an office. The DMV has begun offering more commercial driving services online, such as medical certificate updates, CDL renewals, and motor carrier permit renewals, in addition to commercial driver’s license extensions. When converting from an out-of-state commercial license to a California commercial license with the same class and endorsements, the DMV no longer requires drivers to complete a knowledge or skills test.
