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CDL holders need to check Medical Evaluation Certificate

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Truck drivers who have enjoyed extensions on their Commercial Drivers License repeatedly since the pandemic began last March need to pay close attention to their expiration dates because those extensions are at an end.

The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles has restarted the process which will automatically downgrade a CDL holders permit if their Medical Evaluation Certificate or MEC has expired. Harry Anderson, Assistant Director for Driver Services at the West Virginia DMV, said the agency has been ordered to restart the automatic downgrade process by the Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Association–the governing body of the CDL.

“At the beginning of this, I don’t believe anybody saw it going on as long as it did. We’re on about our fourth or fifth extension,” he explained.

Originally the extensions were granted because doctors who performed the Medical Evaluations for the MEC permits were closed down and the service was not available. However, now those doctors are back open and providing physicals. Therefore, according to Anderson, it’s time to get those evaluations up to date. If they’ve expired your CDL will be void until the MEC is completed along with the license procedure.

“It’s a balance between keeping the country running and highway safety,” he explained.

Under the new regulations, those who had a Medical Evaluation Certificate which expired prior to September 1, 2020 are now to be automatically downgraded until the MEC is renewed by a health professional approved by the FMCSA. According to Anderson, the state had no choice in the matter and said the policy is dictated by the federal oversight agency.

The updated MEC can be delivered to the DMV via email at dmvlicenseissuance@wv.gov , faxed to 304-926-3890, or mailed to P.O. Box 17010, Charleston, WV 25317. Once received the CDL privileges will be restored.