Federal Court Orders Rewrite of Driver Training Rules

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he U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Friday ordered the federal government to rewrite its rule setting the standards for driver training programs.

In 2004, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a rule requiring drivers with less than one year of experience to be trained in four areas – hours of service, health and wellness, medical qualifications and whistleblower protections.

But the rules did not mandate any on-the-road driving experience.

A coalition led by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and represented in court by the group Public Citizen, sued the agency arguing the federal government should have including driving training as part of its curriculum based on its research and the standards set by the industry previously.

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association joined the two safety and consumer groups in the challenge.

In its opinion, the court said the agency was "patently illogical" for disregarding its own data in not requiring on-the-road training.

The court did not vacate the current rule, but did remand the case back to FMCSA for “further rulemaking” consistent with the court’s finding that not including on-the-road training as part of the regulation was wrong.