FMCSA rule won’t apply to Martha’s Vineyard truckers
The Massachusetts Department of State Police said that Martha’s Vineyard does not possess the infrastructure needed for prospective truckers to demonstrate all of the required skills.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration agreed.
On Dec. 31, the agency announced that it granted an exemption that waives specific portions of the commercial driver’s license skills test for truckers who operate on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
“The agency grants this exemption because the island of Martha’s Vineyard does not have the highway infrastructure to support a demonstration of certain on-road safe driving skills required by the CDL skills test requirements. FMCSA concludes that granting the exemption, subject to the terms and conditions set forth below, is likely to achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety that would be achieved absent the exemption,” the agency wrote.
In July, FMCSA published a notice about the state police’s request and asked for the public to provide feedback.
The agency received five comments, all of which supported the exemption.
“The island has many rural roads that are narrow with posted low-speed zones,” Island Energy, Inc., wrote. “There are no four-lane roads anywhere on Martha’s Vineyard, but it is a challenging area to operate trucking.”
Under the exemption, the Massachusetts Department of State Police may waive only the two skills involving lane changes. Truckers who apply for this exemption must take the test on Martha’s Vineyard, and the drivers who receive the exemption are limited to operating on the island.
FMCSA has granted a similar exemption to the state of Alaska. That skills test exemption runs through 2029. LL