FMCSA again waives certain CDL skills test requirements

Effective Dec. 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will waive some regulations for commercial learner’s permit holders seeking to take a skills test for a commercial driver’s license.

The waiver grants relief from requirements defined in 49 CFR § 383.5 in interstate and intrastate commerce as well as for states administering CDL skills tests.

This latest FMCSA waiver, effective through Feb. 28, is similar to those first issued in March 2020.

FMCSA has issued waivers from the restriction that limits a state to administer a CDL skills test only to an out-of-state CDL applicant who has taken driver training in that state. The waiver also lifts the rule that commercial learner’s permit holders are not eligible to take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after the initial issuance of the commercial learner’s permit.

Those combined waivers expired on Nov. 30.

FMCSA determined the latest waiver is in the public interest, “to achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety that would be obtained in the absence of the waiver,” according to the order.

States, state driver licensing agencies and commercial learner’s permit holders are covered by this waiver provided the meet certain requirements detailed below:

• This waiver does not apply to a commercial learner’s permit holder if the driver’s privileges have been suspended or withdrawn for offenses requiring disqualification under 49 CFR § 383.51.
• This waiver does not apply to a commercial learner’s permit holder subject to a driver imminent hazard order under 49 CFR § 383.52 or disqualified under 49 CFR § 391.11.
• This waiver does not apply to a commercial learner’s permit holder who does not have a valid medical examiner’s certificate.
• This waiver does not apply to a commercial learner’s permit holder who is prohibited from performing safety sensitive functions under 49 CFR § 382.501.
• A state driver licensing agency that elects to administer a CDL driving skills test to an out-of-state applicant under this waiver must transmit the test results electronically directly from the testing state to the licensing state in an efficient and secure manner in accordance with 49 CFR § 383.79(a)(1).

A state driver licensing agency that elects to administer a CDL driving skills test to a commercial learner’s permit holder within the first 14 days after initial issuance of the commercial learner’s permit under this waiver, must not conduct a skills test of an applicant for a Class A or Class B CDL until the agency verifies electronically that the commercial learner’s permit holder completed applicable entry-level driver training requirements in accordance with 49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F.

“FMCSA finds that the granting of this waiver is in the public interest, given the critical need for CMV drivers in support of the U.S. supply chain and economy,” the waiver reads. “FMCSA has determined that the waivers will not create any increased safety risk that could adversely affect the public interest.”

The previous version of the waiver included an exemption from the requirement that a CDL holder must be in the front seat with the commercial learner’s permit. That exemption is no longer in the waiver. LL

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