OOIDA Calls on FMCSA to Extend Medical Certification Deadline

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to extend the registration deadline its members must meet to be certified by a medical professional.

Under new federal guidelines, after May 21 drivers will be required to be medically certified by a federally certified medical examiner when they are up for recertification.

OOIDA filed its legal petition with the agency asking for the deadline extension and to allow drivers to obtain medical certifications from persons who are certified under new or current guidelines.

“It’s a source of concern for us that there are so few examiners registered so far,” OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer said in a statement, adding that “it also should be a source of serious concern for the agency.”

In 2012, FMCSA established a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners and mandated that 40,000 medical examiners become federally certified by May 21. Currently, the number of registered medical examiners is about 10,000, according to OOIDA. The registry requires drivers to receive medical certification from professionals who meet certain qualifications.

An FMCSA official assured truckers at the Mid-America Trucking Show late last month that the agency would have sufficient examiners, noting 11,000 medical examiners had been certified and an additional 26,000 are about to be certified.