FMCSA: Two-year delay of entry level driver training rule

From Transport Topics.

Compliance for a long-awaited rule intended to ensure that new drivers meet minimum training requirements before receiving their commercial driver licenses has been delayed for two years.

The Entry-Level Driver Training rule — originally set to go into effect Feb. 7 — is delayed until Feb. 7, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Jan. 29 in an interim final rule.

“This action will provide FMCSA additional time to complete the development of the Training Provider Registry,” the agency said. “The TPR will allow training providers to self-certify that they meet the training requirements and will provide the electronic interface that will receive and store entry-level driver training certification information from training providers and transmit that information to the state driver licensing agencies.”

The extension also provides state licensing agencies with time to modify their information technology systems and procedures to accommodate their receipt of driver-specific ELDT data from the registry, FMCSA said.

In a Federal Register post in July, the agency said it planned to delay only part of the rule. But the new announcement said the agency is delaying compliance with the entire ELDT final rule “due to delays in implementation of the Training Provider Registry that were not foreseen when the proposed rule was published.”

See the complete article from Transport Topics online.