The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has once again extended a waiver intended to help states maintain compliance with new federal guidelines for medical certification of commercial drivers.
In June, the agency announced it would be implementing new guidelines outlined in the Medical Examiner’s Certification Integration rule. Under the new regulations, medical examiners are required to electronically submit results from physicals to FMCSA and state licensing agencies within 24 hours of the exam. The new rule also eliminated the need for drivers to carry a paper copy of their medical certification card.
By July, all but 12 states – Alaska, California, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Vermont and Wyoming – had implemented the new regulations.
At that time, the agency issued a waiver that allowed CDL holders to continue to use paper copies of medical examiner’s certificates as proof of their medical certification for up to 15 days after the date the certificate is issued.
According to FMCSA, the waiver was provided so “drivers with valid medical certification and their employers are not negatively impacted for delays outside of their control” as states continued to transition to the new rule.
The waiver is set to expire on Oct. 12.
Over a month after the original waiver was issued, the same twelve states were still noncompliant with the new regulations, prompting the agency to issue a modified version of the waiver that would allow drivers to use a paper copy of their certificate for up to 60 days after their exam. While the modified version bought drivers an additional 45 days, the expiration date for the waiver did not change.
Now, as the original waiver nears its expiration date, there are still states that are noncompliant with the new regulations. You guessed it… the same twelve states.
On Thursday, Oct. 9, FMCSA issued yet another waiver that would allow drivers to continue to use a paper copy of the medical card for up to 60 days after the exam.
The new waiver goes into effect on Oct. 13 and will expire on Jan. 10, 2026. LL
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