WASHINGTON – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has withdrawn its proposed rule to require states to establish yearly inspection programs for passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles.
FMCSA said in a Federal Register notice that after reviewing the public comments about the proposed rule, it “determined there is not enough data and information available to support moving forward with a rulemaking action.”
Many of those comments said current standards for annual inspections prescribed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and other existing inspection programs were sufficient.
“Several commenters made their support contingent on factors such as uniformity in inspection standards, standardization of inspector training, a self-inspection option, and required reciprocity, whereby states would be required to recognize inspections conducted outside their states,” FMCSA said in the notice.
Other commenters noted that the proposed program would be expensive and would require nationwide training of inspectors to “eliminate inconsistencies in how inspection standards are applied.”
Still others suggested that FMCSA provide state with incentives to establish inspection programs, but the agency said it “does not foresee the availability of federal funding to incentivize the states to adopt such programs.”
