County wrestles with effects of new CDL requirements

HARTINGTON – The county is preparing for potential complications due to new Commercial Driver’s License requirements from the federal government that go into effect in February.

Carla Schmidt, the county’s road superintendent, said she learned more about the new CDL requirements at a recent Nebraska Association of County Officials conference.

She said many county road positions require a CDL and oftentimes applicants indicate they don’t have one but would be willing to obtain one to get the job. Currently, the regulations call for the

Currently, the regulations call for the passage of a vision exam, written test and skills test, as well as providing documents including a medical exam, among other things.

The new rules would require Entry Level Driver Training for those who obtain a Class A or B CDL for the first time; upgrade an existing Class B to a Class A CDL; or obtain a school bus, passenger or hazardous materials endorsement for the first time.

The new training includes four weeks of in-classroom learning and four weeks of driver training by a certified trainer.

“They’re making it way more difficult,” Schmidt said - and expensive, too.

The county would most likely have to pay a wage to the new employee while training and/or pay for the training course. The training course alone ranges from $1,000-$3,000.

Counties and other entities are allowed to have certified trainers on staff but Schmidt doesn’t have any information yet on what it would take to become certified.

There’s also nothing in place to prevent an employee from quitting after receiving the training on the county’s dime. What happens if the individual does not pass the class?

Schmidt said as long as a driver has a commercial learner’s permit by Feb. 7 when the rules go into effect, they won’t need to do the additional training.

She said the county may need to add that a CDL is required when advertising for open road crew positions.

Commissioner Dave McGregor said he fears that no one would apply.

The federal Entry Level Driver Training, the first of its kind, aims for uniform truck driver training and improving highway safety. The new rules - passed in 2016 - have already been delayed once due to the pandemic.

“We already have a shortage and this is going to make it worse,” said County Clerk Dave Dowling.

At its meeting last week, the county commissioners also opened a bid for a new truck.

Cornhusker International Trucks of Norfolk submitted the lone bid according to the county’s specifications. The 2023 International truck was bid at $155,925 with an estimated delivery date of April.

The truck will have the primary use of hauling gravel and will be used in District 3, McGregor said.

The last time the county solicited bids for a similar truck - about two years ago - multiple bids were received.

McGregor said he’d heard from some of the usual bidders that they weren’t able to bid this time due to a lack of vehicle availability.

“They said, ‘We can’t quote anything until 2023,’ “ McGregor said. “They can’t get them (vehicles) so they don’t quote them and they said, ‘We can’t do anything.’ ” McGregor wants to take the bid and review it with the road crew who will be utilizing the truck to make sure it fits what they need.

No action was taken on the bid at Tuesday’s meeting but commissioners did:

- Review a price list submitted by Applied Connective and Riverside Technologies for an upgrade of the county’s website to change to a .gov domain. County Emergency Manager Kevin Garvin said he will have to go through the proposals line by line to compare.

- Approve the renewal of the logging reporter on the 911 system for a cost of $19,860.

- Approve the plat map for Tall Oaks subdivision which was passed by zoning in 2015 but was not platted or recorded at that time.

- Approve building permits.

- Sign the county’s class action opiod settlement, opting for any settlement money to come to the county.

- Discuss American Rescue Plan Act funds and the recent passage of the infrastructure bill.

- Discuss the need to reface 76 signs. The company the county previously worked with is no longer in business.

- Discuss topics to bring up at the annual meeting.

- Discuss the county’s vacation policy.

- Approve the re-appointment of Schmidt as the county highway superintendent for year-end certification.

The next Cedar County Commission meeting is Dec. 28 at the Cedar County Courthouse.