FMCSA to Extend Requirement that Drivers Carry Medical Cards

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will issue a rule next week extending for one year a requirement that interstate truck drivers carry a paper copy of their medical record, the agency announced.

“A couple years ago, we did a rule that requires the drivers to go down and submit their medical certificate to the DMV so the information could be on the electronic record available to law enforcement,” Bill Quade, FMCSA’s associate administrator for enforcement said in a Jan. 9 interview on the Dave Nemo Show on Sirius XM Radio. “We’re coming up on the deadline date for that, which was Jan. 30. There are still a few states that aren’t ready to post that information and make it available to law enforcement.”

Quade said that not only were a few states not posting the medical certification information electronically, but there also were other “glitches.”

“It’s a brand new system for both the drivers and the states,” Quade said. “The one thing we don’t want is for properly medically qualified drivers to be caught out on the roadway and be getting a citation or something because the information’s not available in that electronic record for whatever reason.”