Push to codify Freedom Haulers Program introduced by Florida Senator

An effort to codify the Freedom Haulers Program into law has been announced by Florida Representative Brain Mast this week. 

Mast published a statement on Fox News early on Tuesday, August 12th declaring his plan to introduce a bill that would write recent policy changes aimed at facilitating veterans’ transition into trucking into law. 

“Freedom Haulers recognizes something the rest of the country should have recognized long ago: military experience counts,” Mast wrote in his statement. “Veterans have the discipline, precision, accountability and experience that trucking demands. Qualified veterans with military heavy-vehicle experience can use existing federal waivers to avoid redundant road testing and get into the industry faster.”

“Now Congress needs to make that policy permanent. That is what President Trump’s Freedom Haulers initiative is about, and that’s why I’m proud to introduce the bill to make it law.”

The policy changes as part of the Freedom Haulers Program were officially announced on July 30th. These policies include an extended FMCSA Military SKills Test waiver from one to two years; the addition of seven states to the Even Exchange Program, which allows veterans to  “exchange a military license for a CDL;” and allowing active duty service members to apply for a CLP or CDL in the state where they are stationed instead of requiring them to travel back to their home state. 

“With my bill and President Trump’s initiative, we will be creating a program that fast-tracks American veterans into the trucking industry, allowing veterans with qualifying military driving experience to skip the CDL knowledge test, in addition to existing mechanisms that can let them bypass the road/skills test, and use veterans’ benefits to pay for CDL training,” Mast wrote. 

The announcement comes one year after the now-infamous illegal u-turn crash in Florida involving a semi truck and four wheeler that killed two men. That accident helped to spark the uptick in legislative action against foreign truck drivers with CDLs over the last 12 months.