The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is set to revisit a rulemaking initiative initially considered in 2009, as outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fall 2023 Unified Regulatory Agenda.
In July 2024, FMCSA plans to release an advance notice of proposed rulemaking focusing on new entrants in the transportation industry. This advance notice seeks to gather input regarding the potential implementation of a proficiency exam as a component of the process for new entrants.
The rulemaking “would consider methods for ensuring a new applicant carrier is knowledgeable about the applicable safety requirements before being granted new entrant authority.”
This reconsideration is not new terrain, with the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety presenting a petition to the agency back in 2009. The petition aimed to develop measures ensuring that new entrants possess the essential knowledge required for safe operations.
In response, FMCSA introduced a final rule in December 2008, which elevated the compliance standard for passing a new entrant safety audit. This rule included an automatic failure component for the safety audit, fortified the safety monitoring aspect through incidents or regulatory violations triggering expedited action, and eliminated the self-certification requirement for pre-operational knowledge of federal safety standards. Additionally, the proposal suggested a new application process and safety monitoring system for motor carriers not domiciled in North America.
However, in January 2009, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety filed a petition for reconsideration, expressing concerns about the lack of data demonstrating the new process’s efficacy in improving the operating safety of new entrants through their knowledge of regulations. In response to the petition, FMCSA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in August 2009, which received 13 comments but did not progress to a formal proposal.
As per the regulatory agenda, FMCSA’s upcoming rulemaking in July 2024 aims to address concerns raised by the safety group’s petition. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) suggests that enhancing the agency’s entry-level driver training program would be the most effective approach to address these issues.
“FMCSA has reopened a dormant rulemaking exploring the idea of proficiency examinations following the uptick in new carrier registrations over the last couple of years,” said Jay Grimes, OOIDA’s director of federal affairs. “Ideally, new entrant safety can best be achieved through more comprehensive entry-level driver training requirements that effectively teach CDL skills and assure sufficient knowledge of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. In 2009, OOIDA questioned if a compulsory proficiency exam would better identify safe carriers if the agency did not explore more detailed information about new entrants. We are curious to see specifically what FMCSA will propose in the forthcoming notice.”
Source: Land Line
