The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has advanced a long-stalled rulemaking effort to explore testing applicants for motor carrier authority before they get the green light to haul.
The move comes as FMCSA attempts to solve its "front door problem" via Motus, a new registration system with more identity verification steps, and a broader crackdown on ELD and training providers simply self-certifying they comply with federal regs.
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If testing carrier knowledge before granting authority might seem like going back to the basics, perhaps it is.
The rulemaking's name, "New Entrant Safety Assurance Process: Implementation of Section 210(b) of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999," harkens back to almost three decades ago when Congress instructed DOT to tread carefully on new authorities.
That 1999 law says DOT shall set minimum requirements for motor carriers operating interstate and to "consider the establishment of a proficiency examination for applicant motor carriers as well as other requirements to ensure such applicants understand applicable safety regulations before being granted operating authority."
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Ten years later, a petition from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety called on FMCSA to go ahead and establish that proficiency examination.
Now, another 16 years later, FMCSA says it'll have a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking out by November of 2026.
"This rulemaking would consider methods for ensuring a new applicant carrier is knowledgeable about the applicable safety requirements before being granted New Entrant authority," FMCSA wrote on reginfo.gov. "The agency is considering whether to implement a proficiency examination as part of its revised New Entrant Safety Assurance Process as well as other alternatives."
FMCSA finally instituting a proficiency exam before granting a new authority might come as some relief to brokers.
The biggest trade group for brokers, the Transportation Intermediaries Association, has publicly asked FMCSA to publish a list of "high risk" motor carriers after a Supreme Court ruling altered the broker liability landscape, allowing courts to hold brokers liable for bad carrier selections.
TIA previously described an "impossible" situation faced by brokers trying to evaluate the safety of carriers when those carriers have authorization from FMCSA to haul.
Of course, making new entrants pass an exam before getting authority wouldn't immediately make them all safe or low risk, but it could give brokers and shippers a little more confidence that carriers are up to the task.
At the very least, an exam could help verify there's at least some level of English language proficiency going on at new entrant carriers, as that's another area where FMCSA has recently advanced new rulemakings.
