Washington, D.C. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is making changes to reporting requirements for operators of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and motor carriers.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the FMCSA said it will no longer require drivers operating CMVs to annually report traffic violations to their employers.

The Agency stated the requirement that CMV operators prepare and submit a list of their convictions for traffic violations to their employers each year was “largely duplicative” given a separate rule already requires each motor carrier to make an annual inquiry to obtain the motor vehicle record (MVR) for each driver it employs from every State in which the driver holds or has held a CMV operator’s license or permit in the past year.

In addition, the Agency is also amending the rule for motor carriers employing drivers who are licensed by a foreign authority rather than by a State.

Motor carriers will now be required to make an annual inquiry to each driver’s licensing authority where a driver holds or has held a CMV operator’s license or permit.

Specifically, this change requires motor carriers to request MVRs from Canadian and Mexican driver’s licensing authorities.

The FMCSA is amending rules in the hiring process as well.

The Agency is changing § 391.23 (Investigation and Inquiries) to require a motor carrier to make an inquiry to each driver’s licensing authority where the driver holds or has held a motor vehicle operator’s license or permit during the preceding 3 years to obtain the driver’s MVR when a motor carrier is hiring a driver.

In addition, the FMCSA is amending § 391.21 (Application for Employment) to require each driver to provide on the employment application the issuing driver’s licensing authority of each unexpired CMV operator’s license or permit that has been issued to the driver so motor carriers can make the required inquiries under § 391.23.

These changes are set to take effect 60 days from publication in the Federal Register.

All comments on this final rule must be submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) no later than 30 days from publication in the Federal Register.

Click HERE for more on these changes.

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