Truckers in Georgia soon will no longer have to take a one-hour training session on homeland security to get or renew their CDL.

The Highway Watch program, which is funded with tax dollars, consists of a short classroom session – or a video or audio presentation – followed by the issuance a Highway Watch ID card. It’s administered by the American Trucking Association.

In June 2006, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law a measure requiring truckers to participate in the Highway Watch program.

But a new law, just signed by Perdue, drops that requirement. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2008.
According to the DHS grant and training office, the funding for ATA’s Highway Watch program is estimated to total $56.7 million since 2003.