WASHINGTON — Regulators received heavy opposition from truck owner-operators and safety advocates on a proposal aimed at making it easier to test and employ new drivers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed rule, “Increased Flexibility for Testing and for Drivers after Passing the Skills Test,” would loosen current CDL testing regulations by:
- Allowing commercial learner’s permit (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 proposed changes, which FMCSA published for comment in February, stem from temporary waivers and exemptions issued by FMCSA during and after the pandemic, as well as a petition filed by the American Trucking Associations in 2020. The public comment period ended April 2.
In pushing for the changes, ATA said it considers a streamlined CDL testing process a way to attract more drivers.
“If the industry and broader supply chain doesn’t effectively address the driver shortage, it could reach 160,000 drivers by 2030,” stated ATA’s safety policy director, Brenna Lyles, in comments submitted on the proposed rule.
“Over one million new drivers will be needed to keep up with industry demands and growth alongside driver outflows. ATA believes any reductions in regulatory barriers in the CDL testing and issuance process that encourage and allow new individuals to enter the driving workforce more quickly are urgently needed to fill this critical gap.”
Werner Enterprises said allowing CLP holders to drive while a CDL holder rests in the sleeper berth — as opposed to requiring the CDL holder to observe the CLP driver from the passenger seat — expands team-driving opportunities and will “promote greater productivity and efficiency in freight operations, while helping recruit qualified drivers to timely and safely enter the workforce.”
The Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA), which represents CDL training schools and supports the changes, contends that the revisions to shorten wait times related to license processing and to expand where applicants can take their skills test would reduce costs and bolster tax revenue.
Delays associated with wait-time and test-location requirements “put jobs on hold for 258,744 drivers and resulted in over $1 billion in lost wages for these drivers,” commented CVTA Chairman Danny Bradford, citing data from 2016.
“As a result, federal and state governments missed out on an estimated $234 million in forgone income taxes and $108 million in forgone state and local sales taxes that could have been generated in the absence of skills testing delays.”
Safety taking a back seat?
But owner-operators and safety advocates assert that streamlining CDL testing regulations weakens safety objectives that FMCSA should be promoting.
Regarding allowing CDL holders to rest in the sleeper berth instead of overseeing the learner’s permit holder, FMCSA “fails to explain how the CLP holder will be adequately mentored,” commented Todd Spencer, president and CEO of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
“Given the minimum nature of current entry-level driver training (ELDT) standards, inexperienced drivers will face countless conditions, scenarios, and other challenges they had absolutely no training for during their first months and even years on the road. Eliminating [the CDL holder/passenger seat requirement] ignores the fact that well-trained, more experienced drivers have better safety records and can pass their knowledge along to less seasoned drivers.”
Spencer also pointed out that because FMCSA’s ELDT rule, which went into effect in 2022, does not require a minimum number of behind-the-wheel hours, the agency “should not weaken training opportunities by eliminating the 14-day waiting period for CLP holders to take the CDL skills test absent other appropriate agency actions.”
Peter Kurdock, general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said FMCSA includes no data or analysis in the proposed rule to support the assumption that CDL applicants are being forced to wait long periods to schedule a skills test.
Instead, by allowing a state to administer a skills test to any out-of-state CDL applicant regardless of where the applicant received driver training, it increases the potential for skills test “shopping,” Kurdock argued.
“CDL applicants would be allowed to choose any state in which to test, including those that could be believed or demonstrated to be ‘easier’ or less stringent,” Kurdock stated in comments to FMCSA.
“Moreover, an extensive investigation published by The Boston Globe … revealed the chronic failings by FMCSA to properly oversee and regulate unsafe carriers and drivers. Therefore, it is unlikely that FMCSA would be able to provide adequate oversight of a less rigorous testing regimen that has fewer protocols in place to prevent unqualified individuals from operating CMVs.”
Pat Belaney
They black balled me from what I can tell because I couldn’t give enough urine at a drug screen a year and a half ago.Every trucking company I talked to said they couldn’t hire me because I went through a SAP.They said for insurance reasons,I have a clean driving record and never had a positive drug screen.I’m now a truck driving instructor and I’ve talked the testing examiner they’ve made the testing so easy,there giving out cdl’slike candy.that’s what you call getting screwed is.All and by the way,doctors I went to reported it as shy blatter,but they rejected it.its all bs
Loren Noble
There is not a driver shortage there is a pay shortage. I’ve been driving for 30 years and the pay scale started at 26 Cents a mile to about 75 cents a mile for company drivers then and it’s the same now! 30 years and no real pay raise, yet the companies rates per mile have quadrupled.
Gail M Morra
This why Mayor Pete was never qualified for the job of heading dept. Of transportation. If this allowed then we know where this is headed. Its headed for more leniency on language which our laws require you need to speak English and understand regulations in English to operate a commercial truck. We have illegals that cane into our country now looking for work. And will work for peanuts driving down our limp current wages. You’ll see! Experienced drivers have griped for years the lack of current basic training of new drivers. We already have more & more VISA drivers who come here to drive and believe me they don’t give a crap about hours of service or any regulations of our laws. They drive carelessly without any regard for public safety. Take one look at interstate 40 at 4pm & you’ll see hundreds & hundreds of trucks streaming our highways. And more fly by night carriers who rack up fines just close and create another company under new name. We have so many foreign drivers out here it pathetic.
Francisco Ruiz Jr
What a bunch of nonsense.. I’m almost FOUR MILLION miles deep in trucking.. My first real job was at Yellow Freight at the old Port Chester NY location.. Even though I was driving for a couple of of years then.. My shop steward checked my assigned equipment for scratches dents and other potential shenanigans..
I had a few years under my butt and to this day I’m still learning and being careful about my operating a CMV.
They (the companies) always state there’s a driver shortage when in reality it’s slave wages and lack of respect that make entry level drivers head for the hills.
Again.. There’s no shortage of drivers. There’s a lack of pay and respect. Granted, there’s a bunch of people who don’t deserve to be in my Industry. I see that DAILY.. But most companies just want meat with some heat in the seat.
After my generation is retired and out of the industry.. Good luck training chimps and Automated rigs with learners permit holders aren’t that far away from the near future.
Again.. The drivers shortage is a perpetual myth..
Ray
Dept. Of Labor has already proven there is no driver shortage. This is just another attempt by ADA members to keep driver compensation down, by maintaining their turn and burn driver model, from which transportation has the highest employee turnover of all major industries.
David
I’m still wondering where this mythical driver shortage is at. There’s a retention problem with these carriers. So if they could and would to keep drivers they wouldn’t need to make rules for drivers not to have the proper training.
Wayne
We need a new inter state system just for trucks.every power trans mission line across the country can allow a 4 lane devided hiway beside it.with out buying rights of way.take the trucks off the east west hiways.
Wayne
This whole thing is a jokes many dumb regs.i retired now can’t get back in why. insurance 100000 miles no accidents.ther will always be accidents.and idiots.if you think a camera facing a driver is good.who wants a boss looking over your sholder.