News

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) addressing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207 (seating systems). The ANPRM applies to seats, seat attachment assemblies, and their installation in passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks designed to carry at least one person, and buses, including school buses.

Here's a link to the ANPRM: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-07-16/pdf/2024-15390.pdf

Comments to this notice are due by September 16, 2024.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced it will hold a listening session pertaining to the development of an updated methodology to determine when a motor carrier is not fit to operate a commercial motor vehicle. FMCSA would like to hear from the public on issues of concern relating to the current Safety Fitness Determination, including, for example, the three-tiered rating system (Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, Conditional) versus changing to a proposed single rating only when a carrier is found to be Unfit; incorporating driver behavior into the ratings; and revising the list of safety violations used to calculate the rating; etc.

FMCSA has released the following notice regarding the listening sessions: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-06-20/pdf/2024-13500.pdf.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published the following Final Rule: Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Incorporation by Reference of a New State Procedures Manual.

In this Final Rule, FMCSA amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to incorporate by reference the most recent edition of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Inc.’s (AAMVA’s) Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) State Procedures Manual (SPM), version c.0. This rule will require all State driver’s licensing agencies (SDLAs) to use this edition of the manual to follow standard administrative practices required by the States, and other jurisdictions using the SPM when participating in CDLIS. Version c.0 of the CDLIS SPM provides users with instructions on the processes and procedures for using the information system.

This Final Rule is effective as of July 15, 2024, and can be found here:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-06-13/pdf/2024-12882.pdf.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has extended the comment period for the hydrogen proposed rulemaking to July 17, 2024. The deadline for the electric proposed rulemaking has not changed.

Here is the hydrogen extension notice: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-06-06/pdf/2024-12333.pdf.

Links to the original proposed rulemakings can be found below.

As a follow-up to the email below, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published both Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) addressing hydrogen fueled and electric powered vehicles. Links to the notices and their comment deadlines are as follows:

Hydrogen Fueled Vehicles:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-17/pdf/2024-07116.pdf

Comment Deadline: June 17, 2024 | NOW extended to July 17, 2024

Electric Powered Vehicles:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-15/pdf/2024-07646.pdf

Comment Deadline: June 14, 2024

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced it will hold a listening session pertaining to the development of an updated methodology to determine when a motor carrier is not fit to operate a commercial motor vehicle. FMCSA would like to hear from the public on issues of concern relating to the current Safety Fitness Determination, including, for example, the three-tiered rating system (Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, Conditional) versus changing to a proposed single rating only when a carrier is found to be Unfit; incorporating driver behavior into the ratings; and revising the list of safety violations used to calculate the rating; etc.

This FMCSA-based listening session will be open to all interested parties and will take place concurrently with the Texas Trucking Show in Houston, Texas. In a separate notice, FMCSA will formally announce and provide separate registration information for two related virtual-only listening sessions on the same topics to be held in June and July 2024.

The public listening session will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2024, from 1:00pm to 2:30pmCT. The session may end early if all participants wishing to express their views have done so. The meeting will be held at the NRG Center, 1 NRG Parkway, Houston, Texas 77054 in the Seminar Area next to the Trucking Exhibition. Please arrive early to allow time to check in and arrive in the room. Attendees do not need to preregister for the listening session but are required to register for the Texas Trucking Show using this link: https://texastruckingshow.com/ register.

The full notice can be found here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-06-07/pdf/2024-12530.pdf

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking public comment as it considers the development of a new methodology to determine when a motor carrier is not fit to operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in or affecting interstate commerce.

Before proceeding with next steps in the rulemaking process, FMCSA will host a series of one in-person and two virtual listening sessions to gather public comment.

June 25 - FMCSA Safety Fitness Determination Listening Session #1 (virtual)

June 29 - FMCSA Safety Fitness Determination Listening Session #2 (in-person)

July 31 - FMCSA Safety Fitness Determination Listening Session #3 (virtual)

If you are unable to attend any of the sessions above, FMCSA is also accepting written comments through August 7, 2024, at SafetyFitnessDetermination@dot.gov.

Please read our latest blog for additional information and participation guidance for each of the sessions.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to incorporate by reference the most recent edition of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Inc. (AAMVA) Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) State Procedures Manual (SPM), Version c.0. This would require all State driver’s licensing agencies (SDLAs) to use this edition of the manual to provide guidance on the information systems procedures of the commercial driver’s license (CDL) program. Such information includes, but is not limited to, CDL standards, State compliance with CDL programs, qualifications of drivers, and credentials and security threats assessments.

Click here for the link to the NPRM.

Comments are due to FMCSA by March 21, 2024.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is planning to undertake a study to understand and quantify the prevalence and severity of sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) experienced across the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) industry, particularly among drivers. FMCSA seeks information on how best to design and conduct a study to identify, categorize, and assess context and trends of SASH in the CMV industry. FMCSA is particularly interested in how to support women currently in these jobs and those seeking to enter the CMV industry.

Click here for the notice

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) aiming to increase flexibility for State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs) and commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants by expanding applicants’ ability to take a CDL skills test in a State other than their State of domicile; permitting a commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holder who has passed the CDL skills test to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) on public roads without having a qualified CDL holder in the passenger seat; and eliminating the requirement that an applicant wait at least 14 days to take the CDL skills test following initial issuance of the CLP. The NPRM also proposes to remove the requirement that CMV drivers must have a passenger (P) endorsement to transport CMVs designed to carry passengers, including school buses, when the vehicle is being transported in a driveaway-towaway operation and the vehicle is not carrying any passengers. Additionally, FMCSA proposes to require that third-party knowledge examiners be subject to the training, certification, and record check standards currently applicable to State knowledge examiners and third-party knowledge testers be subject to the auditing and monitoring requirements now applicable to third-party skills testers.

Comments on this proposal are due by April 2, 2024.

Click here for the NPRM information. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a Final Rule on Child Restraint Systems which amends the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) regarding child restraint systems. The amendments, mandatory in one year, modernize the standard by, among other things, updating CRS owner registration program requirements, labeling requirements on correctly using child restraints, requirements for add-on school bus- specific child restraint systems, and provisions for NHTSA’s use of test dummies in NHTSA compliance tests. Amendments mandatory in three years include adding a new FMVSS that updates to standard seat assemblies on which NHTSA tests child restraint systems for compliance with frontal crash performance requirements.

The Final Rule is effective on February 5, 2024. The compliance date for the amendments to FMVSS No. 213 is December 5, 2024. The compliance date for meeting FMVSS No. 213b is December 5, 2026. Optional early compliance with the standards is permitted.

Click Here for the Final Rule.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a Final Rule granting parts of the petitions for reconsideration of the December 29, 2021, Final Rule establishing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 227, “Bus Rollover Structural Integrity.” This standard is designed to enhance the rollover structural integrity and reduce the likelihood of ejection from over-the-road buses (motorcoaches), other vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 26,000 pounds. School buses are excluded from this requirement. The compliance date for this Final Rule is December 30, 2024.

Click here for the link to the Final Rule.