After decades of fits and starts that ultimately resulted in a negotiated rulemaking, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s long-awaited entry-level driver training (ELDT) rule appears ready for implementation.
As of Feb. 7, 2022, truck drivers – both those new to the industry (Class A and B CDLs) and those seeking endorsements (passenger, school bus or hazardous materials) for the first time – must meet minimum training standards and receive that training from a certified...
The trucking industry’s top safety regulator plans to step up its communications with state agencies and training schools before next year’s compliance date for new entry-level driver training (ELDT) requirements.
In a final rule to be published on Wednesday formalizing the Feb. 7, 2022, extension date for implementing the new regulation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it “plans to provide further guidance as the compliance date approaches.”
The ELDT rule, which sets minimum...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-to-upgrade-communication-on-new-driver-training
This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Post-pandemic vision for driver training.
DETAILS: Success for enterprise fleets — like all trucking sectors — begins with professionally trained drivers. A. Bailey Wood, the new president and CEO of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA), discusses how vigorous outreach combined with revamped training requirements and the rebuilding of the driver supply chain are opening opportunities for...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/efs-chat-recap-pushing-driver-training-boundaries
Helping prepare truck driver training schools for a major new federal regulation is at the top of A. Bailey Wood’s priority list.
Wood is taking over as president and CEO of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) from Don Lefeve.
“Obviously the first issue in terms of the association’s priorities is implementation of the entry-level driver training [ELDT] rule, and making sure the states are ready for it as well as the industry,” Wood told FreightWaves. “We’ve had several webinars and...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/new-head-of-cvta-focusing-on-entry-level-driver-training-rule
Federal regulators issued a final rule Thursday to make it easier to obtain a commercial driver’s license despite concerns that the change could open the door to CDL training fraud.
The rule, based on a proposal issued in June 2019, was initiated after complaints that the current standards for knowledge and skills testing were too restrictive. The final rule eliminates a requirement prohibiting a third-party CDL skills instructor — who is authorized to administer the CDL skills test — from...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmcsa-relaxes-rules-to-help-drivers-get-cdls
UPS [NSYE: UPS] is taking another swing at a federal exemption from new entry-level driver training (ELDT) regulations as it struggles to fill driver training slots across its network.
The new application, to be published Wednesday in the Federal Register, follows a denial last year by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of its initial attempt for an exemption of the ELDT regulations. The final ELDT rule is scheduled to go into effect Feb. 7, 2022.
UPS contended in its initial...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ups-tries-again-for-entry-level-driver-training-exemption
Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House have merged a five-year reauthorization of the FAST Act into a broad economic rebuilding plan that they intend to put in place if they take control of the chamber after the November elections.
The five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs is based on the Starter Act, a bill introduced by House Republicans in June as an alternative to a Democrat-sponsored bill that the chamber passed along party lines in July that includes reauthorizing...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/headline-house-republicans-issue-post-election-infrastructure-plan
In March 2010, truck driver Monte Lyons attempted to turn left, crossing in front of Kevin Udy’s pickup truck. Udy was killed in the crash. In March 2013, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, jury ruled that improper driver training was partly to blame for the crash and awarded Udy’s family $58.5 million in damages.
Plaintiff attorney Bill Robins, of Heard Robins Cloud & Black LLP, said in a release that the evidence clearly established that the truck driver was not adequately trained and was likely driving...
A study examining how driver safety correlates with age and experience sparked a discussion among members of a federal safety panel about whether higher pay should be used to address a potential future shortfall of qualified drivers.
The discussion followed a July 14 presentation by Susan Soccolich, a researcher at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, to the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC), which makes recommendations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
T...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/truck-safety-group-debates-driver-pay-vs-driver-shortage
A three-month waiver lifting certain restrictions for drivers with learner’s permits has been reissued and extended until Sept. 30 to ensure an adequate supply of drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As with the original waiver, which was due to expire on June 30, the extension lifts the requirement that a commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holder be accompanied by a commercial driver’s license (CDL) holder in the front seat of the vehicle while the CLP holder operates a commercial motor vehicle...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmcsa-extends-covid-19-waiver-for-driver-training