October 2014 was a great month for deaf and hard of hearing truckers in the United States, with a long-awaited rule clarification and a historic meeting! The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) appreciates the efforts of leaders within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in working with us to change the system.
For decades, the NAD has advocated for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to obtain federal Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) from the DOT, which has a rule dating from 1936 mandating all truck drivers to pass a hearing test to qualify for the CDL. Research and studies have shown that deaf and hard of hearing people are as safe drivers as anyone else, if not safer, regardless of the vehicle size. The NAD has repeatedly requested that the DOT remove the hearing requirement for CDLs so that deaf and hard of hearing truckers can qualify on the basis of skill not hearing.
At the urging of the NAD, the DOT agreed on February 1, 2013 to grant exemptions from the hearing requirement and provide CDLs to 40 deaf and hard of hearing truckers. Since then, more deaf and hard of hearing truckers have been granted exemptions to obtain CDLs. However, barriers remained for many of these truckers, and the NAD worked with individual deaf truckers and their organizations such as Deaf Truckers United (DTU) and Rights of Deaf Truckers (RDT) to identify these barriers and bring those to the attention of DOT officials.
On October 1, 2014, the DOT made it clear that the rules requiring truck drivers to be able to speak English does not apply to deaf and hard of hearing truckers who demonstrate an ability to read and write sufficient English for truck driving purposes. As shown in this document, the DOT clarified this rule at the request of the NAD.
However, there are still other barriers that cause difficulties for deaf and hard of hearing truckers who have received CDLs from the DOT from being able to attend trucking school, get jobs, or obtain the appropriate credentials to drive from their state’s department of motor vehicles. On October 2, 2014, at the request of the NAD, the DOT convened a first-ever meeting between: DOT officials; representatives from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools; the NAD, and several deaf truckers including those from DTU and RDT. This meeting did not result in immediate changes, but was an excellent starting point to identify persistent barriers and move towards feasible solutions.
The NAD pledges to work with all deaf and hard of hearing truckers to ensure they have the same rights and opportunities to work in their chosen field as any other trucker in this country. We will bring further updates as they develop.
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The NAD was established in 1880 by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. As a nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to preserve, protect, and promote the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. The advocacy scope of the NAD is broad, covering the breadth of a lifetime and impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, employment, health care, technology, telecommunications, youth leadership, and more.