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Given the current COVID-19 public health emergency, the immediate transportation of essential supplies and equipment are in high demand. Right now, truck drivers are needed more than ever and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has considered making big changes.
In order to comply with the social distancing guidelines, CDL skills test examiners may not be required to be physically present in the truck to conduct a CDL skills test, if states can show that technology can safely replace the examiners. Examples of technology: in-cab cameras, cellphones.
Another option the FMCSA wants states to consider for the CDL skills test is have two employees “in a sufficiently large follow vehicle (seated six feet apart) or else having one employee in a follow vehicle while a recording device that is set up on the vehicle records the test, viewing the applicant’s performance after the examiner has stopped driving, and then immediately deleting the recording.”
The FMCSA will consider this change until June 30, 2020 or until President Trump revokes the Declaration of National Emergency.
The FMCSA has also pointed out that no Declaration of National Emergency would allow state driver’s licenses agencies to issue a CDL or CLP to anyone who has not yet passed the knowledge and skills test.