WASHINGTON — An independent trucking association and three safety groups have joined to fight against a new training rule for entry-level drivers because they say it doesn’t go far enough.
But according to a United Motorcoach Association official, the new rule is more than adequate to train new bus drivers.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to halt the new rule until the agency restores the requirement that student drivers perform 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training.
The rule, which is scheduled to take effect in February 2020, sets a core classroom curriculum required for driver trainees and calls for FMCSA to establish a registry of driver trainers that CDL seekers must use for their training. The rule also requires behind-the-wheel training.
However, the agency dropped the 30-hour minimum for behind-the-wheel training that had been included in its March 2016-issued proposed driver-training rule. Instead, it set a proficiency standard, to be determined by the trainers.
The petitioners argue the removal of the 30-hour minimum disregards Congress’intentions for the rule and the consensus established during rulemaking negotiations between FMCSA and the Entry-Level Driver Training Advisory Committee, made up of industry officials appointed by the agency to develop recommendations for driver-training standards.
They said the final rule is not in the public interest because it doesn’t advance safety beyond current practice, which allows new drivers to obtain a commercial license without being exposed to the real-world experience of driving a commercial motor vehicle on public roads while receiving instruction from a qualified instructor.
Ken Presley, UMA’s vice president of industry relations and COO, disagrees, saying that from the time the advisory committee started work on the standards, “the 800-pound gorilla in the room was the minimum number of classroom and behind-the-wheel training hours.”
“While it has always been UMA’s position that proficiency was a sufficient means for a CDL entry-level driver student to demonstrate competency, there were many participants who advocated a significant number of hours behind the wheel,” said Presley, who served on the advisory committee.
“The problem with hours-based training versus proficiency is there is scant science to underpin the hours-based position, and from a pragmatic perspective a curriculum-based training is the logical conclusion. In other words, what do you want the prospective CDL driver to know?”
He said many of the advocates were concerned about the so called “CDL mills”that seem to churn out an endless stream of drivers who can simply pass the state exam but may not have mastered the skills necessary to operate a vehicle safely.
“In the end, this was a negotiated rulemaking body,” Presley said. “The subcommittees, led by an outstanding facilitator, really worked hard to develop a curriculum that would expose a driver to most aspects of commercial vehicle driving.
However, the 800-pound gorilla remained in the room and it was time to negotiate if we were going to conclude a final rule that Congress has sought for over two decades.
“UMA negotiated for no minimum classroom hours and 15 hours of behind-the-wheel training that included range and actual road experience,” he said. “This was fair and in the spirit of negotiated rulemaking. However, we were not surprised when the final rule did not reflect the minimum number of hours because of the lack of science.
“We believe the mandated curriculum is strong enough that a satisfactory number of hours are required just to cover and master the curriculum.”
