Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (fmcsa)

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or FMCSA is the organization who is responsible for managing and overseeing the United State's trucking industry. The FMCSA is headquartered in Washington, D.C, and has an estimated 1000 employees.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was established in January 1, 2000, to help increase the safety of the United State's trucking industry. The FMCSA has created regulations for commercial driving and has outlined rules for disqualification. Commercial drivers may have their commercial license revoked for a variety of infractions include refusing to submit to a blood alcohol concentration test or driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Penalties increase in severity with each infraction. The first DUI offense for refusing to submit to a BAC test may result in a one year suspension; subsequent refusals may result in a permanent commercial license revocation.

All penalties imposed by the FMCSA are in addition to court imposed DUI penalties. Not all states have adopted the FMSCA rules, but the FMCSA does require states to gather data for commercial drivers including driving violations, criminal convictions and other disqualifications. These violations do not have to be committed in a commercial vehicle to be reported to the FMSCA.

Commercial drivers who have been suspended for life may, after 10 years, be reinstated if they complete all a state approved rehabilitation program. Only one reinstatement is allowed per driver. Commercial drivers arrested for DUI should contact a DUI lawyer for more information about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.