federal motor carrier safety administration

Final Rule Relaxes CDL Skills Training and Testing Restrictions

March 5, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The final rule aiming to relax commercial driver license skills testing requirements has been implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

This final rule will officially permit states to allow third-party test examiners to test CDL applicants on their skills once the examiner has already provided skills training to the applicant.

This final rule has been long-awaited throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as more truckers than ever have been needed on the nation’s frontlines. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the final rule on December 17th, citing the need for flexibility being due to truckers transporting the first loads of coronavirus vaccines.

“Under [Transportation] Secretary [Elaine] Chao’s leadership, the Trump administration has continued to examine ways to provide commonsense regulatory reform and help individuals seeking to enter the commercial driver industry,” said Wiley Deck, FMCSA Deputy Administrator. “This new rule will provide states more flexibility during the ongoing public health emergency to test CDL applicants and allow more drivers to safely enter the industry.”

An earlier federal restriction did now allow an instructor of commercial driver license skills authorized by a particular state to also administer a CDL skills test to the same applicant. Now, the final rule releases that restriction, permitting states to decide for themselves whether or not they will allow a third-party trainer to also administer skills testing for one person.

The argument behind the final relaxation of the restriction is that drivers entering the industry will be able to find gainful employment much sooner than they would have otherwise–something the industry deems vital right now.

“During the COVID-19 public health emergency, truckers have been American heroes,” said Secretary Chao, “and the department is committed to helping our economy by reducing unnecessary barriers for those interested in obtaining jobs in the trucking industry.”

FMCSA, in the announcement of the final rule, ensured that the validity and integrity of CDL skills training and testing will not be compromised by this boosted flexibility.

“The agency believes that allowing states to permit this practice may alleviate CDL skill testing delays, and reduce inconvenience and cost for third-party testers and CDL applicants without negatively impacting safety,” said FMCSA’s document explaining the final rule.

If a state decides not to allow third-party test examiners to provide CDL testing, they are not required to do so under the new rule. As of now, FMCSA says 10 states do not authorize any third-party testing methods.

The final rule document will explain the public comments in opposition to the proposal, which detail worries regarding fraud and conflict of interest. The document follows the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this rule, which was originally announced in June of 2019. The final rule took place immediately following FMCSA’s publication in the Federal Register.

Further commentary in support of the new rule showed confidence in safety and explained the current methods in place that work to determine fraud within CDL skills testing. Examples of what was noted include the regulation indicating that states must do one of the following at least once every other year: use a third-party to administer a skills test for state employees; or, on a sample of drivers being tested by a third-party group, compare testing results by having the third-party examiner co-score an applicant on a CDL skills test with state employees also scoring the same applicant.

Driver testing and licensing has faced many obstacles during the coronavirus pandemic, with many licensing offices having to adhere to safety guidelines and require testing by appointment only. These particular delays are believed to have worsened the current truck driver shortage–which has become exaggerated as more deliveries are being made than ever during a time when so many people are shopping online.

This shortage also, of course, brings further challenges to the shipments needed to keep grocery stores stocked with food and household goods and hospitals stocked with personal protective equipment, medical equipment, medication, and, now, COVID-19 vaccines.

Additionally, FMCSA claims this is only part of a series of steps “focused on reducing regulatory barriers for CDL applicants,” noting that “In March 2019, the agency authored a final rule streamlining the process and reducing costs to upgrade from a Class B to a Class A CDL–a deregulatory action that will save eligible driver trainees and motor carriers $18 million annually.”

COVID Vaccine Nears Readiness, DOTs Prepare for Transport

February 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The emergency order allowing hours-of-service regulation relief to truckers during the time of high demand brought on by the pandemic has been extended by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The expansion of the declaration is an effort to loosen rules and allow for easier transport of long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines.

This extension will last until February 28th, 2021 for truckers participating in direct support of coronavirus emergency efforts–especially those working to transport these vaccines.

“FMCSA is helping lead the way to allow for an efficient and effective distribution of the first COVID-19 vaccines,” said Wiley Deck, FMCSA Deputy Administrator. “The agency is continuing to provide additional regulatory relief to our nation’s truckers to get critically important medical supplies, food, and household goods to Americans in need.”

The original hours-of-service changes, announced in May by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and former acting Administrator Jim Mullen, consisted of four major revisions–including the relaxation of rules regarding sleeper berth time splits, 30-minute rest break requirements, adverse driving condition regulations, and maximum on-duty driving times.

The expansion declaration applies to all 50 states and the District of Columbia and extends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations exemption from Parts 390 to 399. These Parts cover hours of service, longer combination vehicles, and parts and accessories necessary for safe vehicle operation.

Regulation relief mandates are extended for commercial drivers hauling: medical supplies, equipment, vaccines, and vaccine administration kits; testing-related medical supplies, such as those diagnosing COVID-19; COVID-related sanitation, community safety, and community transmission prevention supplies like masks, gloves, soap, hand sanitizer, and disinfectants; livestock and livestock feed; and food, groceries, and paper products meant for restocking stores and distribution centers.

The hours-of-service change extension will not be offered to those hauling routine commercial deliveries and mixed loads “with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of the emergency declaration, according to FMCSA.

These efforts follow the December 1st announcement of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s measures being taken “for the safe, rapid transportation of the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine by land and air,” as stated by the DOT. “With the unprecedented pace of vaccine development through Operation Warp Speed, the Department has made preparations to enable the immediate mass shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Operation Warp Speed officials have worked with the private companies transporting the vaccines from manufacturers to distribution centers. Necessary safety regulations have been put in place regarding any potential difficulties and hazards that could arise from vaccine transport, which include dry ice and lithium battery standards.

“The Department has laid the groundwork for the safe transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine and is proud to support this historic endeavor,” said Chao.

The first vaccine supplies are set to become available during December, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that as supply becomes more available, all American adults are likely to be able to receive the vaccination in 2021.

“Since the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Department has played an active role in supporting the Administration’s efforts to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus, and ensure continuation of critical infrastructure support and relief for the American people,” the DOT explained. “Response measures implemented by the Department to date have included direct stakeholder outreach and guidance, expanded Federal assistance, and expedited regulatory relief.”

Still, the hours-of-service changes have been a source of concern for many safety advocates, as the new regulations allowing for longer on-duty hours and less-strict rest time regulations will allow more fatigued drivers on the roads for longer periods of time and for more hours in adverse driving conditions.

Driver fatigue has been a top concern for safety advocates across the country, with the National Transportation Safety Board focusing heavily on the issue and naming the reduction of fatigue-related trucking accidents on its ‘Most Wanted List’ of 2019-2020 safety improvements.

“These [hours-of-service changes] are opportunities for drivers to be pushed to their limits further, to drive without resting,” said the Trucking Safety Coalition’s executive director, Harry Adler, when the rule revisions were first announced. “It’s more opportunity for a driver to operate while fatigued, which is really detrimental.”

Tool to Better Understand HOS Changes Launched by FMCSA

January 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

As the trucking industry adapts to recent hours-of-service regulation changes which became official at the end of September, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has released a virtual tool aiming to help industry members fully understand the new rules.

The final hours-of-service rule was announced by former acting Administrator Jim Mullen, along with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, on May 14th and consisted of four revisions the FMCSA says align with the biggest concerns they’ve heard from truckers. These revisions include changes to the 30-minute mandatory rest break, sleeper berth time splits, and maximum on-duty driving times.

“New hours-of-service rules now in effect!” said FMCSA in a tweet. “FMCSA has built an online education tool for hours of service to help drivers and carriers understand the new rules.”

With the new Educational Tool for Hours of Service (ETHOS), users are able to input their duty statuses into a digital logging system and see potential regulation violations.

“September 29th is an important day for our nation’s commercial drivers–the start of the revised hours-of-service rules providing greater flexibility to drivers and carriers without impacting safety,” said Wiley Deck, FMCSA Deputy Administrator. “Our team has worked hard preparing for this launch. [ETHOS] is a prime example of that effort. Its simple, scenario-based system is user-friendly and very helpful, particularly given the uniqueness of runs and drivers situations.”

Industry representatives having a firm grasp of the new rules is of the utmost importance, and this tool is going to be a huge help in that regard, said American Trucking Associations vice president of safety policy, Dan Horvath.

“The more educational materials FMCSA can provide to safety directors [and] to drivers, the better, because folks are going to be on the same page as far as understanding the new hours-of-service rules and complying with them,” Horvath explained. “Unfortunately, as we’ve seen with past rule-making, there’s always some gray area that exists with confusion when there’s any rule change, whether it be hours of service, [or] whether it be any regulatory rule-making changes.”

With ETHOS, a user can enter the day, time, and type of event he or she wishes to examine against the rule changes, including both driving and off-duty occurrences. Then, the user can select a pre-populated example prepared with the rule revisions in place–such as driving window times, rest break requirements, or sleeper berth provisions. Then, ETHOS can give a Record of Duty Status regarding the given information that reflects the intervals of time spent on-duty, off-duty, driving, or resting. Finally, potential violations are listed occurring to the day and time they may have taken place.

According to Horvath, this kind of helpful visualization tool will play a huge part in helping trucking industry members better understand hours of service rules. Truck drivers, dispatchers, safety directors, and employers can create a “mock duty day” on ETHOS if they are used to looking at logbooks or electronic logging devices each day.

“That [method] is often a very easy way to understand the hours-of-service rules as compared to providing a driver with regulatory text and saying, ‘Here’s what you can and cannot do,’” said Horvath. “When you take that regulatory text and put it in the context of an actual logbook for that driver’s day, it’s a lot easier to understand, it’s a lot easier to train, and that way, everyone’s on the same page.”

Horvath also notes that because the ETHOS’ system is based on what industry members use in their usual day-to-day responsibilities, it is incredibly user-friendly.

“Having an example of something that drivers and safety directors are using on a daily basis is going to be much more beneficial to the industry in understanding it,” he said.

ETHOS is meant to be a helpful educational and visualization tool for truckers and safety directors, and will only find the potential violations at hand in a given situation. It is not meant to monitor overall hours-of-service rule compliance, according to the online tool’s website. FMCSA also will not retain any data entered within ETHOS.

To find more information regarding ETHOS and to begin using it, click here.

Safety Advocates Petition Against New HOS Rules

December 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Announced officially on May 14th, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made a final ruling regarding hours-of-service regulations, bringing flexibility among its four revisions for truckers, such as relaxing current mandatory 30-minute rest breaks and sleeper berth time splits.

“Starting on September 29th, 2020, truck drivers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) will be required to comply with the revised hours-of-service regulations,” FMCSA said in a recent tweet.

The final rule was formally implemented in late September, and brings boosted flexibility to truck driver rest break rules by only requiring a break after eight hours of consecutive driving and permitting the break to consist of an “on-duty, not driving” status instead of the previously-necessary “off-duty” status. Drivers will also have changed short-haul exceptions by the expansion of a maximum on-duty driving period from 12 to 14 hours and the lengthening of the distance limit for operation from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

The new rule also changes adverse driving condition regulations by stretching the maximum window of permitted driving in challenging conditions by two hours. It also allows drivers to divide their required 10 hours of off-duty time into two different possible split periods–an 8/2-hour split or a 7/3-hour split–neither of which would count against the trucker’s 14-hour driving window.

Now, three organizations, along with the Teamsters union, have decided to file a petition in federal court opposing these regulation changes.

The petitioners include the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and Parents Against Tired Truckers, along with the Teamsters. The groups filed the petition in mid-September in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

This legal action comes after the groups had a petition for reconsideration denied by the FMCSA, and now, the petitioners are requesting that the court reviews the final ruling as well as the denial of their petition to the agency.

“Because they’ve rejected that petition, now, we’ve filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit–so, it’s kind of the next step in the process,” said general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Peter Kurdock. “This is just the first step in a very long journey.”

Because the final rule was scheduled to be put into effect at the end of September, Kurdock knew early on that efforts of the petition would last longer than the date of implementation.

“This action that we’ve taken in filing the petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals is really not going to affect that date,” he explained. “This is a lengthy process. In all likelihood, the rule is going to go into effect at the end of September, and this process will continue after that date.”

The petitioning groups have made clear their beliefs that the regulation relaxations within this final rule will worsen the already-dire problems surrounding driver exhaustion.

“I fall asleep on the job, my head hits the keyboard,” said Cathy Chase, President of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “If a truck driver falls asleep, his [or] her head hits the windshield, and that’s only part of the catastrophic outcome. Allowing operators to work longer hours and drive farther distances without proper rest breaks and other protection ignores science, data, and expert opinion.”

It makes sense that many truckers would want the option of driving more hours, and that trucking companies are happy to push truckers’ abilities to their limits in order to meet higher demands–especially demands following the spike in food, household goods, PPE, and medical resource delivery orders that came with the pandemic. However, opposers of the new rule are certain that the industry is only catering to these desires to fulfill orders and remain profitable–rather than prioritizing roadway safety for all.

“By issuing this HOS regulation, FMCSA has bowed to special trucking industry interests at the expense of highway safety, seeking longer work days for drivers who are already being pushed to the limit,” said James Hoffa, General President of the Teamsters union. “We joining this lawsuit to ensure that our members and their families are protected from fatigued drivers when they use our nation’s highways.”

FMCSA Requests Comments Regarding Potential Driving Window Pause Pilot

October 23, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing a program relaxing hours-of-service rules that mandate drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles complete their driving within a 14-hour window.

The Split Duty Period Pilot Program, as it’s been named, will allow drivers to pause their driving time with an off-duty period of between 30 minutes and three hours–as long as the driver takes 10 total consecutive hours off-duty after his or her work shift.

On August 28th, the agency announced its request for public comment regarding the pilot.

“Truckers are American heroes–they keep our supply chain moving; they carry essential goods we need to maintain our daily lives,” said Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Transportation Secretary. “The Department is seeking public comments on providing additional flexibility for truckers as they work to service our country during this public health crisis.”

Pilot program participation will be granted to a limited number of commercial drivers. FMCSA said the study group for the pilot program will include small, medium, and large carrier commercial carriers as well as independent owner-operators. To qualify, motor carriers need to meet criteria regarding crash rates, and cannot have a rate exceeding the national average. Carriers must also adhere to pilot program regulations and procedures, allow researchers to implement a video-based monitoring system onboard their trucks, and also allow them to obtain records-of-duty status information for all participating drivers.

FMCSA is planning to study a sample of between 200 and 400 drivers for the pilot program, which it estimates will operate for three years at most. All data gathered will be used to analyze the safety of an hours-of-service change such as this.

“FMCSA wants to hear directly from drivers about the possibility and safety of an hours-of-service pause pilot program,” said Jim Mullen, acting Administrator for FMCSA. “The agency remains committed to exploring ways to improve safety on our roadways, while increasing flexibility for truckers. We encourage drivers, motor carriers, and interested citizens to review the proposed pilot program and provide substantive public comments for FMCSA to review.”

This program announcement comes just a month before widely-discussed hours-of-service regulations go into effect on September 29th, and only days before Mullen leaves his post with the agency at the end of August. Upon his stepping down, senior policy adviser at DOT’s Office of the Secretary, Wiley Deck, will take on the deputy administrator role.

“In our comments on the recently revised hours-of-service rules, we called for a pilot program to study the impacts this type of change would have on highway safety and our industry, said spokesman for American Trucking Associations, Sean McNally. “We are pleased to see that FMCSA has taken our suggestion, and we will work with the agency to ensure this program yields meaningful data that can be used for future rulemakings.”

FMCSA’s final hours-of-service modification notice was issued May 14th, and originally said nothing regarding the 14-hour driving window rule.

The final rule did, however depict four changes meant to boost regulation flexibility, such as relaxation of the 30-minute rest break rule, which required a trucker to take a break after every eight hours of consecutive driving. The change allows a driver’s mandatory break requirement to be met by using an “on-duty, not driving” status instead of an “off-duty” status.

The final revision also changes the split sleeper berth regulation to allow drivers the ability to choose to split their necessary 10 hour off-duty time into two periods–an 8 hour/2 hour split or a 7-hour/3-hour split. Neither choice of hour division would have counted against a 14-hour window mandate.

Additionally, the rule changes modify the adverse driving conditions exception, so that the maximum driving window permitted can be extended by two additional hours during challenging weather or driving conditions. It also allows for the lengthening of a driver’s maximum on-duty period from 12 to 14 total hours, and extends a driver’s operating distance limit from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

“OOIDA commends DOT and FMCSA for proposing the Split Duty Period Pilot Program,” said executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Lewie Pugh. “While we advocated that the final hours-of-service rule should have included the split duty provision, we think the pilot program can provide substantive data to permanently give drivers more control over their daily schedules.”

CMV Safety Efforts Receive $80 Million in Grants from FMCSA

October 20, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced this month that it would be awarding $80 million in grants in an effort to boost overall commercial motor vehicle safety. These funds will be allocated to various states and educational institutions, and are part of the highest funding level yet for these particular safety grants.

“These awards of nearly $80 million represent the highest funding level for these critical safety grants to enhance commercial motor vehicle and road safety,” said Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Transportation Secretary.

Of these grants, FMCSA announced that $45 million would be deemed High Priority grants, which would be applied to states’ safety efforts and safety technology and program system advancements for their commercial motor vehicles. The FMCSA said its High Priority grant program is made up of HP-Commercial Motor Vehicle grants, which are meant to bring financial aid to state CMV safety initiatives, and HP-innovative Technology Deployment grants, which offer financial aid in the advancement of tech implementation and work to further intelligent transportation system deployment for CMV operations.

These will be sent to areas prioritizing assistance to commercial vehicle and driver safety initiatives, including the California Highway Patrol, the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission, the Kentucky State Police, and the University of Alabama.

$32.7 million would be allocated to Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation grants, which will be meant to boost state efforts in bringing improvements to the national commercial driver’s license program. This grant program gives financial assistance to states fully complying with FMCSA’s driver’s license standards and programs regulations, and works to help groups focusing on national efforts that help states’ compliance efforts, which FMCSA said will improve the overall national CDL program.

Those receiving these grants for their projects boosting compliance efforts include the Washington State Department of Licensing, the University of Cincinnati, the Georgia Department of Driver Services, the Florida Department of Highway Safety, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation-Department of Motor Vehicles.

A remaining $2 million will be for Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grants, which will be allocated to efforts in working to train veterans for commercial bus and trucking jobs through 20 different educational institutions.

These particular grants focus on private and accredited public colleges, universities, post-secondary educational institutions, truck driver training programs, vocational-technical institutions, and state and local government agencies, such as Maryland’s Wor-Wic Community College, Tennessee’s Truck Driver Institute Inc., Florida’s Truck Driver Institute Inc., Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and York County School of Technology, and Virginia’s Tidewater Community College.

“This critical funding will support FMCSA’s state and local safety partners, and illustrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to reducing crashes and improving safety on America’s roadways,” said Jim Mullen, FMCSA Deputy Administrator. “These funds will go directly to where they are needed the most–our states, local communities, and education institutions.”

These grants are available to agencies around the United States and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency said funding recipients from both state and local governments will “work in conjunction with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including public and private institutions of higher education, businesses, and independent contractor consultants.”

FMCSA received $881 million this year for its operations through the U.S. House’s approval of a fiscal 2021 transportation funding bill, which allocated $202 million more than 2020’s funding level, and $179 million more than what was requested by the president.

This bill “represents a forward-looking vision to rebuild our nation and strengthen our communities,” said Nita Lowey, US. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman.

The House legislation’s accompanying report explained that safety grants such as these “are used to support compliance reviews in the states, identify and apprehend traffic violators, conduct roadside inspections, and conduct safety audits of new entrant carriers.”

Grant funds are also given to certain states for oversight efforts regarding their commercial driver’s license programs.

“Together, we can revitalize our infrastructure, modernize our transportation systems, protect the traveling public, expand access to safe, affordable housing, and support our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Lowey.