FMCSA rejects driver training rule exemption

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied another exemption request.

Soon after announcing that it had rejected individual truck driver requests for sleeper berth and hours-of-service exemptions, the agency also denied a request for exemption from the entry-level driver training rules.

In a notice that is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 19, FMCSA said the request “lacked evidence” that the exemption would meet an equivalent safety level.

This past December, Robert Towle asked FMCSA for an exemption on behalf of graduating students of the commercial driver’s license Prep Class of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Special School District Granite State High School. The request sought exemptions from requirements that a training provider use instructors who meet the definition of “theory instructor” and for first-time CDL holders to complete training from a school on the Training Provider Registry.

Towle, an inmate at the New Hampshire State Prison, argued that the revised skills test would “provide a comparable level of rigor as the current tests to ensure that participating CDL applicants demonstrate a level of knowledge and skills required to operate commercial motor vehicles safely.” He added that the exemption would allow students to receive the requisite theory instruction in order to obtain their commercial learner’s permit as a step toward job-readiness as part of their community re-entry plan.

The exemption request received eight comments with seven opposing.

“Reducing the experience level and quality of training provided by verified, qualified instructors unnecessarily risks the lives of all roadway users and fails to provide Mr. Towle with the quality of education needed to best set him up for success as a professional truck driver,” the Truck Safety Coalition wrote. “The best course of action for all parties is for GSHS to take the measures necessary to fully comply with entry-level driver training requirements in the provision of its CDL training class.”

FMCSA denied the application, saying that a potential training provider must meet all of the applicable eligibility requirements to be listed on the Training Provider Registry.

The entry-level driver training rule took effect in February 2022. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has long pushed for a driver training rule and has asked for the requirements to be strengthened. LL