49 C.F.R. Parts 383, 384, 390 et al.
Under new federal regulations effective January 30, 2012, commercial drivers will no longer need to carry their medical certificate while operating as long as they register their medical certificate with the State where they have their Commercial Driver’s License. Motor carriers and drivers alike are subject to a number of Federal regulations regarding driver qualifications. As part of those regulations, the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1999 ordered the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to come up with rules to combine commercial drivers’ licenses and medical examiner certificates. The new rules are intended to prevent medically- unqualified drivers from going unnoticed by employers and law enforcement, to ensure that driver medical certifications are genuine, and to create an electronic system to reduce the regulatory burden on the States and employers.
Currently, interstate drivers who operate vehicles over 10,000 lbs, that transport 6 or more paying passengers (including the driver), that transport 15 or more nonpaying passengers (including the driver), or who transport hazardous waste need to get a certificate from a medical examiner that the driver is physically qualified to drive. Since 1998, the law has required drivers to give a copy of that certificate to their employer and to have a copy while driving.
Under the new regulations, drivers will need to show the certificate to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV will enter the information from the certificate into the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS), making it a part of the driver’s electronic driving record. That will mean that drivers will no longer need to carry their medical certificate while driving, although they will still need to carry any skill performance evaluation or medical exemption they might have. Although the effective date of the rule is January 30, 2009, the regulation gives States until 2012 to bring their DMV systems into compliance. Drivers will be able to start getting the information recorded sometime after January 30, 2012. Drivers who do not have their information in the CDLIS by January 30, 2014 and who need to meet medical qualifications for driving will not be certified for interstate driving and may have their CDL restricted or taken away.
After January 30, 2012 motor carriers will no longer be able to use a driver’s medical certificate to meet their record-keeping requirements if a driver has a medical certificate recorded in the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS). Instead, after the driver gets his medical certificate recorded at the DMV, the carrier will need to get a copy of the driver’s electronic driving record from the CDLIS. Carriers will also need to use the CDLIS to check to see what kind of driving (interstate or within a single state) a driver has reported that she will be doing and to check for any medical variances.
The FMCSA also published notice of a proposed rule governing Certified Medical Examiners. Under the proposed rule, the FMCSA would create a National Registry for Certified Medical Examiners. The Registry would be limited to only those medical professionals who complete a FMCSA training program and certification test. Two years after the proposed rule becomes effective, all drivers employed by carriers with 50 or more drivers would have to have any medical qualification examinations performed by an examiner listed in the Registry. Three years after the proposed rule becomes effective, only medical examiners listed in the Registry could perform medical qualification examinations. Those medical examiners would have to send information about completed medical examinations to the FMCSA every month. This proposed rule would not change any of the actual standards that a driver must meet to be medically qualified.
The FMCAA is accepting public comments on the proposed rule until January 30, 2009. Comments received after that date will be considered if practical, but there is no guarantee that the FMCSA will consider them. If you have any questions about the new requirements or any other questions related to Motor Carrier Liability, feel free to call upon one of our Trucking and Commercial Transportation practice group lawyers.
