Dive Brief:
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is again seeking to require a two-year document retention requirement for states, which could further a paper trail for FMCSA as it targets non-domiciled commercial driver license and permit compliance across the country.
- The regulatory proposal seeks to preserve records for FMCSA audits when reviewing whether states are complying with federal rules. An interim final rule in September put forth a two-year record-keeping requirement, but a court put that emergency regulatory measure on hold temporarily amid a legal challenge.
- “If States do not retain this documentation, FMCSA is severely hindered in its efforts to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements,” the Jan. 30 notice said, which would hamper FMCSA’s ability to audit states’ compliance with federal rules.
Dive Insight:
FMCSA policies on English language proficiency and non-domiciled CDLs involve safety issues to ensure commercial drivers are qualified, Administrator Derek Barrs said Jan. 26 at the SMC³ Jump Start conference in Atlanta.
While longstanding rules have been in place, FMCSA implemented an out-of-service penalty last year for commercial drivers who fail to meet proficiency standards. The agency also moved to elevate the necessary documents needed to issue and renew non-domiciled commercial driver licenses and permits.
The interim final rule regarding non-domiciled drivers involving immigrants expires on Feb. 28, and the agency seeks to put a two-year record-keeping requirement in place for three years. The Office of Management and Budget would have to approve the measure, and the public can comment on FMCSA’s notice through March 2.
While some non-domiciled drivers may have been in the country legally at first, that status may have expired, but states are issuing driver’s licenses for eight or nine years or longer, Barrs said.
“There’s a systematic failure,” Barrs said. “We are working closely with them to ensure that this does not happen,” and most states have stopped issuing non-domiciled CDLs until their systems are working correctly, he said.
The federal government has threatened several states with a loss of funding if they fail to comply with non-domiciled CDL rules. Barrs said audits were based off the old rules but encouraged stakeholders to make sure drivers are properly vetted through the current process.
Jim Mullen, executive director of the Clean Freight Coalition, facilitated the talk with Barrs and said a surface transportation reauthorization bill could potentially address the non-domiciled and English language proficiency issues in a statutorily codified manner.
The current surface transportation legislation was part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and expires Sept. 30.
Barrs also noted during the discussion that he constantly seeks to make sure everyone attending an agency meeting remembers its mission: to reduce fatalities and crashes of large trucks and buses.
“Safety has to be at the forefront,” he said.
