Number of FMCSA-Certified Medical Examiners Reaches 52,000

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The number of medical examiners certified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has reached more than 52,000, a top agency official said March 28.

Speaking at American Trucking Associations' Safety Management Council and Transportation Security Council's Policy Council, Larry Minor, FMCSA associate administrator for policy, said the examiners conducted more than 14.7 million exams from May 2014 to February 2017.

Of the total 14.6 million exams administered, 14.1 million or 96.4% received their medical cards, Minor said.

More than 8.4 million of those who passed their exams, received two-year cards, while 4.4 million were issued one-year medical cards. Nearly 330,000 or 2.4% were issued less than one-year medical cards, according to agency data.

About 1% of the exams conducted resulted in drivers being temporarily denied a medical card, while 1.6% were permanently disqualified.

"The program seems to be working very well for us," Minor told the group of mostly trucking executives discussing regulatory issues at the more than two-hour meeting of the SMC Regulations committee.