Businessmen

Truck drivers facing the sudden loss of their commercial driver’s licenses — based at least in part on infractions from decades ago — tried driving home their case Wednesday in front of the state board which oversees the Registry of Motor Vehicles.The drivers and their loved ones are hoping to convince the RMV to change course, since both federal and state law allow for a pathway to CDL reinstatement, provided a driver has had a clean driving record for at least 10 years. That pathway could help any driver whose infractions happened a decade or more before they applied for a commercial driver’s license.The Registry unilaterally — through a regulation of its own creation — has decided not to allow any CDL reinstatement in Massachusetts despite its failure to timely process the infractions either when they first happened or when a driver first applied for a CDL. It’s now inexplicably adding these old offenses to hundreds of drivers’ records.Drivers and their families say they’ve spent years building a livelihood around driving a commercial vehicle only to have the state suddenly snatch it away, something that’s grossly unfair.”Think of the families you took jobs away from without care,” said Erin Curtis, speaking on behalf of her husband Sean Curtis who needs a CDL to run his boat service business on the North Shore. “You are taking away income that provides food for my children.”Sean Curtis’ brother Eric also spoke in his defense.”An infraction 26 years ago, to destroy livelihood seems like an extreme, an extreme punishment,” Eric Curtis said. “That doesn’t fit the crime.”Sean Curtis says he pleaded guilty to OUI in 1998 on the advice of his lawyer, an incident during which he also refused to take a breathalyzer test. Those two offenses combined are enough for him to lose a commercial driver’s license, except they happened more than a decade before he ever applied for a CDL. He says Massachusetts granted him a commercial license around 2009.”I’m the sole provider of the family. I’m the one who brings the money in to support our family and taking that away is going to take everything away,” he said. “I paid the penalty. I did their drug and alcohol classes the court mandated me to do, and I did everything they asked me to do.”Among those also speaking at the MassDOT board’s monthly meeting was Michael McDonald, who lost not only his commercial license but also his regular driver’s license. Those revocations are based on a pair of OUIs he had in the 1980s. Just last month, the Registry sent him a form letter suspending his “right to operate in Massachusetts until 03/04/1985″ ignoring that that date is nearly 40 years in the past.McDonald’s OUIs also happened decades before he applied for a CDL, which occurred in 2017. During that process, he was cleared by the state Board of Appeal and has maintained a perfect driving record.”I might not have a place to live next month because I lost my job,” McDonald said. “I lost everything. And I’m 61 years old. I did my time. I paid my dues.”Because he lost any ability to drive, McDonald was laid off from his job at Ground Effects Landscaping in Carver. However, his employers — Sean and Leanne Bishop — spoke out on his behalf.”He now has to choose between rent and food,” Leanne Bishop said. “These guys aren’t dangerous. These infractions are 40 years old.””I don’t even know if your records are accurate at this point because you have records in closets that you haven’t even put in the system!” Sean Bishop said, directing his comments to state Registrar Colleen Ogilvie. “Let’s talk about people who aren’t doing their jobs in the state of Massachusetts – you!”State lawmakers may get involved in the issue, changing the law to force the Registry’s hand. There is a bill on Beacon Hill requiring the Registry to create a pathway to reinstatement, but with lawmakers not in session, it may not move until the new year.