CDL requirements would change under FMCSA proposal

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans to propose several changes to the CDL requirements that would “increase flexibility” for state driver licensing agencies and applicants.

FMCSA announced earlier this week that it soon will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. Once that happens, the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal.

The changes include:

• Giving applicants the option to take a CDL skills test in a state that isn’t their home state
• Allowing commercial learner’s permit holders who have passed the skills test to operate commercial motor vehicles on public roads, without a qualified CDL holder in the passenger seat
• Removing the requirement that an applicant wait at least 14 days to take the skills test following the initial issuance of a commercial learner’s permit
• Requiring third-party knowledge examiners be subject to the training, certification and record-check standards currently applicable to state knowledge examiners

FMCSA’s proposal was prompted by petitions from the American Trucking Associations and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

Increased flexibility in CDL process?

FMCSA said that with the entry-level driver training rule taking effect in February 2022, all states now can be assured that the out-of-state applicant has completed the minimum required training.

“The notice of proposed rulemaking, by proposing to allow states discretion to provide skills testing to out-of-state applicants, regardless of the state in which training was obtained, may allow applicants to obtain a CDL sooner by scheduling the skills test in a state with shorter waiting times,” FMCSA wrote.

The agency also is proposing to remove the rule that a qualified CDL holder must be in the passenger seat for permit holders who have passed the skills test but haven’t picked up the license for their home state. Several trucking companies already have been granted this exemption by FMCSA.

“Because these drivers have already met all the requirements for a CDL but have yet to pick up the CDL document from their state of domicile, their safety performance would be the same as a newly credentialed CDL holder,” FMCSA wrote. “Additionally, having a CDL driver accompany the (permit holder) who has successfully passed all required CDL skills testing and prerequisites provides some additional supervision that is otherwise not required for newly credentialed CDL drivers in physical possession of the CDL document.”

FMCSA did not provide a date for when the proposal would be published, but it is expected to be unveiled in the coming days. LL