WASHINGTON — Truckload carrier Covenant Logistics is seeking a two-year federal exemption to streamline the process for employing 2,000 new drivers, the company told regulators.
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Covenant (NASDAQ: CVLG), along with its logistics affiliate Landair Transport Inc., has petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders who have passed a CDL skills test to drive a truck without an on-duty CDL holder present in the front passenger seat, as is currently required.
According to an FMCSA notice published Wednesday, Covenant currently cannot employ a new driver until the driver’s home state issues a CDL. The company must therefore either wait for the driver to obtain the physical CDL credential from the state or send the driver home.
“Covenant Logistics states this results in supply chain inefficiency and a lost employment opportunity for the new driver,” according to the notice.
“States may take weeks to properly document and update the status of a new driver’s CDL after they have passed the CDL skills test, and Covenant Logistics is not able to employ the driver during this time without having a second driver in the front seat of the [truck]. This administrative waiting period has caused a significant burden on Covenant Logistics’ operations.”
Covenant explained that prior to the implementation of the front-seat requirement for experienced drivers who oversee new permit holders, states routinely issued temporary CDLs, valid only in drivers’ home states, to drivers who had successfully passed a CDL skills test.
“This process made it possible for the company to immediately designate a new driver as on duty, and direct that driver to their home state without entering a second driver into an on-duty status,” the company states in the notice.
If granted the exemption, Covenant would join several other large trucking companies, including CRST and Wilson Logistics, in securing licensing flexibility from regulators.
CRST, which was originally given an exemption in 2016, has successfully renewed it by showing that safety has not been compromised with the eased restrictions.
Such exemptions may not be necessary in the future if FMCSA moves forward with a pending rulemaking.
The proposed rule, “Increased Flexibility for Testing and for Drivers after Passing the Skills Test,” would loosen current CDL testing regulations by:
- Allowing CLP holders who have passed the CDL skills test to operate a truck without having a CDL holder in the passenger seat.
- Expanding CDL applicants’ ability to take a skills test in a state other than the state in which they live.
- Eliminating the requirement that an applicant wait at least 14 days after being issued a CLP to take the CDL skills test.
The changes are opposed, however, by some owner-operators and by truck safety advocates who warn that rolling back driver testing regulations will lead to more crashes.
Scott
Aother big carriers who can pay off the fmcsa be exempt from regs the rest of us have to follow.
DANIEL QUICK
NO ONE SHUD BE ABLE TO DRIVE A TRACTOR TRAILER ON THE ROAD TO THAY HAVE A CDL IN HAND AND THEN ONLY WHEN THAY HAVE BEEN TESTED BUY THE STATE FROM WITCH THAY LIVE IN THESE COMPANY’S JUST NEED ANYONE THAT CAN DRIVE AROUND A PARKING LOT THAY NEED MUCH MORE THAN THAT !!!
Kevin Killingbeck
This is a huge mistake, it’s all about money & corporate greed. I operate a small trucking company in Canada & the carnage & death that is happening here is unbelievable due to the massive amount of untrained drivers, the mass majority of them come from other countries that have not even seen the type of commercial vehicles that are in North America let alone putting them in control of one. As a small carrier, we have to jump through hoops to hire a new driver. And they have to have a minimum of three years experience, so tell me why a company like covenant or any of the others are allowed to bypass the same restrictions that we have. Yes, they have safety directors and yes, they have a safety department. And yes, they are having the accidents. You wouldn’t put someone in an airplane under these circumstances, so why would you let them loose on the the highways? Proper training should be first and foremost.
Rob
Our highways are a game of Russian Roulette these days. Please do not contribute to this behavior.
Timothy Parkhurst
It figures it would be one of the notorious driver mills! If FMCSA allow this, whose next? Swiftt? Knight? US Express? You know my family has to be on these roads. So HELL NO!Learn the way we all did or quit hiring new drivers! Very simple.You got people being employed by places like Covenant, that can barely speak English and barely can drive a car, and they have the balls to ask for an exemption? Really? Lucky I ain’t the gov, because if I was I’d be on your buts like white on rice from how on, just to make sure you arent doing it anyhow! Quit running your rookies like a team and you wouldnt need this exemption! DUH. I’ve literally seen it all now. Covenant take bow, you just ranked yourself the most unsafe, illogical company in America.
KIING O
This is purely Covenant trying to circumvent legality in order to acquire more contracts and more revenue. Why in the world would you want an inexperienced driver hauling valuable loads for you with no experienced driver present? Very suspicious
Orestes Verge II
This is purely Covenant trying to circumvent legality in order to acquire more contracts and more revenue. Why in the world would you want an inexperienced driver hauling valuable loads for you with no experienced driver present? Very suspicious
Brendon
Absolutely NOT!!! There are things they still are not in tune w watching for things!!