FMCSA formally extends compliance dates for medical examiner’s certification rule

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an interim final rule that delays several provisions of the medical examiner’s certification integration final rule from June 22, 2018 until June 22, 2021.

The FMCSA originally announced the delay in April.

According to the agency, the action was taken to provide FMCSA additional time to complete certain information technology system development tasks for its National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners and provide the State Driver’s Licensing Agencies sufficient time to make the necessary programming changes.

The interim rule requires that through June 21, 2021, certified medical examiners should continue issuing the original paper medical examiner’s certificate and carry the form as proof of medical certification for 15 days following certification. Motor carriers must continue verifying that drivers were certified by a medical examiner on the national registry. State Driver’s Licensing Agencies must continue to process paper copies of medical examiner’s certificates.

The original rule would have eliminated the need for truck drivers to carry their medical cards. However, the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners website suffered a security breach on Dec. 1, and has been down for more than seven months.