The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rule to implement driver training standards for new truck drivers has cleared its final hurdle before publication.
The Entry-Level Driver Training rule was approved Tuesday, Nov. 15 by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and should be published in the coming weeks.
The exact language of the final rule will not be released until it is published, but the proposed rule published earlier this year outlined a core curriculum for new truckers receiving their CDL while also requiring 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training before being issued the license. The proposed rule also laid out minimum qualifications for instructors, testing, test vehicles and more, which would be used to establish a driver trainer registry.
The proposed rule outlined classroom training that would require instruction on the basics of driving a truck, including instrument and control instruction, how to perform pre- and post-trip inspections, how to safely back to a dock, hours-of-service regulations and more. The driving time requires at least 10 hours driving on a range and either 10 hours driving on public roads or 10 trips lasting at least 50 minutes each on public roads.
The driver training requirements above were not final, however, and could have been altered based on public comments received by FMCSA when the proposed rule was published.