Trucking Officials Offer Cautious Support for FMCSA’s Medical Certification Proposal

rucking officials offered cautious support of the long-awaited and anticipated federal proposal to merge the medical certification that drivers must obtain before operating a large truck with a state-issued commercial driver license.

The regulation, published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the Nov. 16 Federal Register, would satisfy the requirement — set forth in the 1999 law creating the truck safety agency — to have FMCSA require state licensing authorities to insert information about a driver’s medical fitness within the Commercial Driver License Information System. CDLIS is the electronic system that contains driver information for use by licensing and enforcement officials.

“This was anticipated, due to a statutory requirement, and we’re going to be working with our members with licensed drivers in those states that have already merged the processes to identify any problems in an effort to correct them in the final rule,” said David Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations for American Trucking Associations.