The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is urgently seeking approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to modify the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program in compliance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, recently passed.
The act requires that FMCSA cannot mandate the use of inward-facing cameras or require motor carriers to register for an apprenticeship program with the Department of Labor for participation in the SDAP program. These amendments aim to encourage greater participation in the program, which has suffered from low enrollment since its inception.
Consequently, the application and monthly report forms for the program have been updated to eliminate these mandatory requirements.
Launched in 2022, the three-year SDAP aims to introduce individuals aged 18 to 20 to careers in interstate trucking. However, participation has been significantly below expectations, with only 29 fleets currently registered out of an anticipated 1,000 by the Biden administration.
Although the program was initially capped at 3,000 participating drivers at any given time, enrollment has been minimal, with only three dozen drivers enrolled thus far.
FMCSA will still inquire whether carriers utilize inward-facing cameras and possess a Registered Apprenticeship program approval number, but carriers will now have the option to provide this information voluntarily.
The modification to FMCSA’s information collection request (ICR) must be approved by the OMB before it can be implemented. FMCSA has requested approval of the change by April 15.
Source: Commercial Carrier Journal
