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I don't know how easy it is to find the history and progress of the movement now, and I wasn't overly aware of much of it when it was beginning to happen in the '90's, but I think an excellent parallel in our lifetimes would be the adoption of the Commercial Driver's License. Right, wrong, or indifferent (from a constitutional perspective), it's more-or-less apples to apples.

In years past an over-the-road trucker DID have to have several licenses from various states depending upon the various commodities they were hauling and the pickup/delivery points for their freight. Some states had reciprocity with others, while some did not. Some recognized "passing through" for reciprocity purposes, but required an in-state license if origin or destination was in their state.

We often saw 18-wheelers with half-a-dozen license plates on them as well (different issue, same effects) and drivers carried "bingo cards" with tax stamps from various states to handle the fuel taxes. It was an administrative nightmare. Frankly, it still is, but nothing like it used to be. Again, registration and fuel taxes are a separate issue, with similar results.

From a licensing perspective, it wasn't unheard of for a driver to get ticketed for operating without a license (or a proper-class license) while out of state, even though he/she was licensed in multiple other states. It also wasn't unheard of for a driver to accumulate too many "points" on a license from one state, and just put it away, and present a license from another state and keep on driving.

A "cheauffer's license" in Texas would perhaps let you drive a taxi or limo, but ALSO an 18-wheler, even though you had never actually sat under the steering wheel of a Kenworth. I'm an example of that...I grabbed the loophole when Texas first adopted CDL, and used my then-available farm-exemption to upgrade from a Class-C driver's license to a Class-A CDL, with all the endorsements except 'passenger.' At 19, having only driven farm trucks and trailers, I was legal to drag a set of triple-tankers hauling haz-mat. I was responsible, and didn't do it, but I was legal to do so...

Much of it has been fixed now. It's still a headache, and the Federal side regulates the states heavily on the CDL (thus the difference in licenses to this day) -- not really a good thing -- but the program is more uniform, the standards are similar state-to-state, and my license is good in all 50 states for the same sets of vehicles.

I don't condone EITHER program, or concept, but I do think that the CDL program provides us with a good insight to what could/will happen with the administration and implementation of a national reciprocity concept in CHL's.

I think it's an interesting parallel, and I'd like to hear some other people's take on it...