FMCSA Delays Entry-Level Driver Training Rule to February 2022
An interim final rule pushed the compliance date for federal entry-level CDL training standards back two years, from February 7, 2020, to February 7, 2022.
In February 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) pushed back the start of its entry-level driver training (ELDT) rule by two full years. An interim final rule published February 4, 2020 moved the compliance date from February 7, 2020, to February 7, 2022. The change took effect the day it was published, three days before the rule had been due to start.
What the training rule covered
The ELDT rule, finalized in December 2016, set minimum training standards for:
- people applying for a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time;
- drivers upgrading to a Class B or Class A CDL;
- drivers getting the hazardous materials (H), passenger (P) or school bus (S) endorsement for the first time.
It set curriculum standards for theory and behind-the-wheel instruction (theory only for the H endorsement), and it required state licensing agencies to confirm that an applicant had finished the training before allowing the skills test, or before the knowledge test for the H endorsement.
The rule also created the Training Provider Registry (TPR), an online system where schools and other training providers would register with FMCSA, certify that their programs met the standards, and report each student who completed training. FMCSA would then pass that information to the states.
Why FMCSA delayed it
FMCSA said it needed more time to finish building the TPR, and that states needed time to change their IT systems and procedures to receive training records from it.
In July 2019 the agency had proposed a narrower delay that would only have postponed two parts of the rule: the requirement for providers to upload training records to the TPR, and the requirement for states to check those records before testing. That proposal drew 56 comments, and 40 of them asked FMCSA to delay the whole rule. In the February 2020 rule, FMCSA instead delayed the entire ELDT rule, saying the registry had run into delays it had not foreseen when it made the proposal.
What it meant in 2020
- The federal minimum training standards did not apply to CDL applicants on February 7, 2020, as originally planned. The new federal compliance date was February 7, 2022.
- Training schools did not have to register with the TPR in 2020.
- State licensing agencies did not have to check training records before CDL testing in 2020.
Because it was an interim final rule, FMCSA took public comments until March 20, 2020, under Docket FMCSA-2007-27748, and petitions for reconsideration were due by March 5, 2020.
Archive: this article describes rules and events as of February 2020. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.