The 2024 Human Trafficking Judicial Leadership Program and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Public Awareness Campaign facilitated by The National Judicial College (NJC) with support from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the first nationwide program of its kind to develop and pilot a curriculum-driven judicial leadership initiative that empowered judges to conceptualize, implement, and describe the outcomes of local human trafficking awareness campaigns in their jurisdictions. Through this initiative, judicial leaders explored innovative curriculum elements, including empathy exercises, survivor testimonials, and breakout sessions designed to foster collaboration and actionable strategies. Importantly, this applied leadership program gave judges the tools and resources necessary to create impactful human trafficking and Commercial Driver License (CDL) holders’ public awareness action plans tailored to the realities of their courts. Remarkably, the program resulted in significant improvements in the participants’ understanding of the complexities of human trafficking and gave judicial leaders the confidence to actively confront human trafficking within their courts, communities, local governments, states, and across the United States.

By Hon. Jan W. Morris (Ret.)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There are more than 164,000 miles of roadways within Indian country, including rights-of-way for rural state and interstate highways. Annually more than 500,000 crashes involve a large truck or bus. The majority of nearly 4,500 fatal crashes involving large trucks occur in rural areas. The threat posed by unsafe commercial vehicles and non-Indian operators to the health and welfare of the tribe as well as the safety of all motorists supports the authority of Indian tribes to enact, enforce, and adjudicate commercial motor vehicle and commercial driver’s license civil regulations over all roadways and rights-of-way within tribal lands where it is not uncommon for tribal law enforcement officers to have the primary patrol responsibility.

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Contemporary problems, including the increase in traffic accidents and safety concerns on American Highways, have compelled the Federal Motor Carrier and the National Judicial College to adopt actions and strategies to disseminate knowledge among legal system partners. Several issues were identified to be addressed, including the methods of “masking” commercial traffic violations, the lack of a unified system of driving licenses, and the lack of communication between federal, state, and judicial stakeholders in addressing “masking” and human trafficking.

This resource is a flowchart to help determine class of CDL required.