Proposed CDL rule lets applicants take knowledge tests away from home state

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently announced a proposed rule to allow applicants for commercial driver’s licenses to take knowledge tests in a state other than their state of residence.

The aim is to increase flexibility for applicants by reducing time and travel expenditures, according to an FMCSA news release.

The rule would apply to general and specialized knowledge CDL tests.

States would not be required to offer the tests to out-of-state applicants. If a state does, however, it would be required to transmit the testing results to the driver’s home state. The driver’s home state would then be required to accept those results.

FMCSA said the proposed change would have no detrimental impact on safety.

Reducing the burdens and expenses on CDL applicants has the potential to increase the number of available drivers, FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez said in a news release.

“With the American economy continuing to grow at record pace, the need for more commercial drivers is critical. This proposal offers commonsense regulatory changes that will help CDL applicants, without compromising safety,” Martinez said in a news release.

The rule has not yet published in the Federal Register. When it does, there will be a 60-day comment period.

A copy of the proposal, which includes information on submitting comments to the Federal Register docket, is available here.

FMCSA said this rule follows other rules intended to reducing regulatory barriers for CDL applicants and streamline the process.

In March, FMCSA issued a final rule aimed at making it easier for drivers to upgrade a Class B commercial driver’s license to a Class A CDL. That rule goes into effect Feb. 7, 2020.

In June, FMCSA announced proposed rulemaking to allow a state-authorized CDL skills instructor to also administer the qualifying testing for the same applicant. That rule updates one from May 2011 that generally prohibited driver training schools from administering the CDL skills test to applicants who received skills training from that school.