Companies withdraw exemption request from driver training rule

Three companies who asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to ease its experience requirement for driver training instructors have withdrawn their request.

In July, FMCSA published a notice that asked the agency to grant an exemption request to the training departments of Millis Transfer, Heartland Express and Contract Freighters Inc. The companies asked FMCSA to allow them to use instructors with only one year of experience driving a commercial motor vehicle. Current regulations require trainers to have at least two years.

FMCSA opened the request to a 30-day public comment period, which runs through Aug. 28.

Earlier this month, however, the three companies formally submitted a withdrawal notice from the exemption request. The companies did not provide any reason for rescinding the application.

In the initial request, the companies asked for the exemption because the experience requirement “impedes their ability to hire enough trainers to meet the demand.”

Estimating a combined student enrollment of 500 to 700 in 2023, the companies said they will have to turn away some prospective students if the exemption is denied. They currently employ 131 trainers who spend up to 90 days with a student before the student drives solo. The exemption would enable the companies to add up to 150 trainers to their current group.

As of Aug. 25, 94 comments about the request had been posted to the regulations.gov website. The majority of the comments came from truck drivers who are opposed to the exemption.

“This exemption request needs to be denied,” Garrett Nunn wrote. “The mere thought that a driver with only one year experience has enough knowledge to safely train a new hire is beyond crazy. The current standard of two years is barely enough time for a driver to learn to be safe.”

The entry-level driver training rule took effect in February 2022.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents small-business truck drivers, has been fighting against attempts to water down the rule through exemptions.

“For decades, OOIDA has supported national entry-level driver training standards,” the Association wrote in comments to a previous exemption request. “In our opinion, the best way to promote safety is to improve driver training requirements. Currently, too many new drivers enter the industry without the basic skills to safely operate a CMV. While the entry-level driver training rulemaking that went into effect (in 2022) is far from sufficient, the regulation does establish minimum qualifications for training instructors. If these standards are maintained and enforced, highway safety will undoubtedly improve.” LL