Despite opposition from the Truck Safety Coalition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will keep in place an exemption that removes the requirement that CRST International trainers must be in the passenger seat while a commercial learner’s permit holder is driving.
FMCSA published a notice to finalize CRST’s exemption renewal in the Federal Register on Tuesday, May 14.
Current regulations require a CDL holder with the proper class and endorsements to be seated in the front while a commercial learner’s permit holder is driving on public roads or highways. The exemption allows student drivers who passed the skills test but have not yet received the CDL document to drive a CRST commercial motor vehicle accompanied by a CDL holder “who is not necessarily in the passenger seat.”
CRST has been operating under the exemption since 2016, and FMCSA said it is unaware of any evidence that the exemption has negatively affected safety. Last August, the agency granted a provisional five-year renewal to the Iowa-based transportation company. Following a comment period, FMCSA has elected to finalize the renewal through Sept. 24, 2028.
Similar exemptions also are in effect for Stevens Transport, New Prime, CR England, Werner Enterprises and Wilson Logistics.
Opposition
FMCSA received two comments in opposition to CRST’s exemption request. Notably, one of the comments came from the Truck Safety Coalition, which is a partnership between Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and Parents Against Tired Drivers.
The safety groups cited statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that there were more than 5,700 deaths related to truck crashes in 2021.
“There has never been a more important time to have high and uncompromising standards and yet, it is in this catastrophic context that CRST requests a renewal of its exemption request that allows CDL holders ‘supervising’ new drivers to literally lie down on the job,” the Truck Safety Coalition wrote in its comments to the agency.
The group added that the burden of proof should be on CRST to prove that the exemption hasn’t hindered safety.
“CRST has been operating under this exemption since 2016 and does not disclose any data from the past seven years in their current renewal application,” the Truck Safety Coalition wrote. “In fact, the only data CRST ever disclosed was three months’ worth from 2016 in its 2018 exemption renewal application (curiously omitting all data from 2017). Three months’ worth of data hardly constitutes a meaningful sample size on which to grant an exemption.”
FMCSA noted that CRST has received a “satisfactory” safety rating. LL
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