Plan Calls for Use of TMC ‘Recommended Practices’ as Training Guide
Eric Miller
A technician works on a Peterbilt truck engine. An individual now can become qualified as an inspector in as little as four months by following TMC’S Recommended Practices. (Peterbilt Motor Co.)
Federal regulators have granted a five-year exemption to American Trucking Associations that could help mitigate the tech shortage, and exempt motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers from the requirement that an individual must complete one year of training to conduct annual commercial motor vehicle inspections.
ATA said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s waiver, made public Jan. 16 in a Federal Register notice, will cut the time new technicians need to spend preparing to enter the workforce while maintaining high standards for safety and competency. The idea also has the potential to stem some of the nettlesome tech shortages.
Under the new policy requested by ATA in 2020, technicians would be allowed to skip the federally required one-year of training or experience needed to conduct CMV inspections and brake-related repair and maintenance provided they received training based on ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council Recommended Practices.
“TMC, through its study groups and task forces, has developed a robust set of Recommended Practices, and these RPs form the backbone of the knowledge leadership the council provides to its members and the industry,” TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell said. “This exemption recognizes that TMC’s RPs meet the industry standard for technical knowledge, and technicians who are trained on them are more than capable of performing essential work.”
The exemption applies to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers and individuals, allowing them to self-certify that they have completed a training program based on TMC’s RPs. This training and certification, rather than the currently required year of additional training or work experience, “would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulatory requirements,” FMCSA said.
“Quite simply, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations just say if you want to be qualified to vehicle inspect, a person who is qualified to do brake-related maintenance or repair, you simply need a year of either schooling or experience or some combination of both to qualify you for that role takes a year,” Braswell told Transport Topics. “Now an individual can become qualified as an inspector in as little as four months if he or she uses TMC’S Recommended Practices.”
TMC has developed more than 500 Recommended Practices organized into 15 sections that outline individual procedures for inspecting, repairing or replacing components on commercial vehicles. The RPs are available in a document titled “TMC’s Recommended Practices Manual.”
“We believe that by allowing technicians trained in programs based on TMC’s Recommended Practices, the industry can make it easier and more efficient for new technicians to enter the industry,” Braswell said. “The industry continues to face a persistent shortage of technicians, so anything we can do to cut red tape and get students and young people onto the shop floor quickly will help address it.”
TMC does not actually administer the course.
“The school or the fleet has to follow the TMC guidelines, but there are no requirements that users be TMC members,” Braswell added.
The exemption applies to motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers and individuals, allowing them to self-certify that they have completed a training program based on TMC’s RPs.
“We believe that by allowing technicians trained in programs based on TMC’s Recommended Practices, the industry can make it easier and more efficient for new technicians to enter the industry,” Braswell said. “The industry continues to face a persistent shortage of technicians, so anything we can do to cut red tape and get students and young people onto the shop floor quickly will help address it.”
“FMCSA supports ATA’s TMC recommendation that the training program duration should be at least 540 hours (approximately 13.5 work weeks) for new individuals, divided into one-third classroom-based instruction and two-third laboratory hands-on based instruction,” the agency said.
Braswell said that the shortage of traditional diesel technicians is getting better.
“Still, if you take a look at the demand for diesel technicians there are about 9,700 new positions and about 31,000 replacement positions,” Braswell said. “So the total demand is 40,000 or 41,000, and, replacement positions are outpacing positions created by growth to a rate of about 4 to 1.”
Mark Schremmer
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a limited five-year exemption to the American Trucking Associations from training or experience requirements related to conducting commercial motor vehicle inspections.
FMCSA announced the exemption in a notice that was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Current regulations require motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers to ensure that individuals performing annual inspections of commercial motor vehicles, including individuals who inspect, maintain, repair or service CMV brake systems, have a total of at least one year of training or experience.
In 2021, ATA requested an exemption on behalf of individuals seeking inspector qualifications. Instead, ATA requested that FMCSA permit educators to self-certify their training programs based on the Technology and Maintenance Council’s recommended practices and permit technicians who complete those programs to be qualified to inspect commercial motor vehicles in less than one year.
The exemption request was supported by the American Bus Association.
The group said that the exemption would “positively impact the commercial motor vehicle industry by expanding accessibility and opportunities for professional development and staffing.”
FMCSA agreed that ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council has developed a series of best practices that serve to give training providers the necessary content to deliver comprehensive training programs and assessments that provide individuals with the knowledge and skills to become qualified inspectors.
The agency said it has determined that “granting an exemption from the requirements that motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers ensure that individuals performing annual inspections have one year of training, experience or a combination thereof would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to or greater than the level of safety provided by the regulatory requirements if the individuals instead successfully complete a performance-based inspector training program consistent with the Technology and Maintenance Council’s recommended practices.”
The exemption took effect Thursday, Jan. 16 and will run through Jan. 16, 2030.
FMCSA has adopted its proposed changes to its Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP), adding four new eligible crash types and broadening the definition of existing crash types to include indirect consequences of actions of other motorists. The new and updated eligibility criteria will apply to requests for data review (RDR) for crashes that occur on or after December 1, 2024. Crashes occurring prior to that date will be reviewed according to the prior criteria. FMCSA said it will announce on the CPDP website at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/crash-preventability-
determination-program when DataQs will be available to accept submissions of the new and updated crash types. The four new crash types are as follows:
- CMV was struck on the side by a motorist operating in the same direction.
- CMV was struck because another motorist was entering the roadway from a private driveway or parking lot.
- CMV was struck because another motorist lost control of their vehicle. The Police Accident Report (PAR) must specifically mention loss of control either in the citation, contributing factors, and/or PAR narrative.
- Any other type of crash involving a CMV where a video demonstrates the sequence of events of the crash.
In addition to the newly eligible situations that are reviewable, FMCSA has reworded several crash types to account for situations in which other motorists caused crashes that they were not directly involved in. For example, one prior description was “CMV was struck by a motorist driving in the wrong direction.” The new version is “CMV was struck because another motorist was driving in the wrong direction.” FMCSA noted that the new definitions now allow for review if a CMV was struck by a vehicle that had been struck by a motorist driving in the wrong direction, making an illegal turn, experiencing a medical issue, etc. FMCSA emphasized that the CPDP is limited to how crashes show up in the Safety Measurement System for the purpose of targeting enforcement and does not affect crash preventability determinations made through FMCSA safety investigations. Moreover, preventability determinations under CPDP will not affect carriers’ safety rating or ability to operate, FMCSA said. For the Federal Register notice, visit https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-28377.
Understanding Future Changes to FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System – Part 1
Join the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for a webinar series to learn more about upcoming changes to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) methodology used to prioritize carriers for Agency intervention. Part 1 of this series will focus on explaining the following three SMS enhancements:
- Reorganized BASICs (now called “compliance categories”)
- Violation Groups
- Simplified Severity Weights
Date: January 16, 2025
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Register Here
This event is a follow-up to the March 2023 webinar series that took place during the open comment period, when the changes were proposed. The approval of these changes was announced in the November 20, 2024 Federal Register notice.
Why is FMCSA updating SMS?
With input from all stakeholders—including government at all levels, industry, non-profit/advocacy, researchers, and the public—FMCSA has identified a set of changes that build on the sound design of SMS and improve its fairness, accuracy, and clarity.
Where can I learn about the approved changes?
All the forthcoming approved changes to SMS are explained in detail on the CSA Prioritization Preview website.
Truckers News Staff
FinditParts
Safety is a primary concern for many truckers when visiting truck stops. In fact, 80% of truckers in a recent survey said they would pay extra for services at truck stops where they felt safe.
The survey conducted by FinditParts also found that the younger the trucker, for the most part, the less safe they felt at truck stops. However, the majority of truckers do feel safe at truck stops, according to the survey’a results.
The online survey found:
- 59% of Gen Z (drivers born between 1997 and 2012) feel safe at truck stops
- 78% of Millennials (drivers born between 1981 and 1996) feel safe at truck stops
- 86% of Gen X (drivers born between 1965 and 1980) feel safe at truck stops
- 84% of Boomers (drivers born between 1946 and 1964) feel safe at truck stops
Truckers are also willing to pay extra for services at truck stops they consider safe and clean. Fully eight in 10 respondents said they would pay at least 5% more for services at a truck stop where they felt safe. Two in five would pay up to 25% or more.
The survey also found that women drivers are twice as likely as men to feel unsafe sleeping at a truck stop. Over a quarter of women said they’d feel “somewhat unsafe” sleeping overnight at a truck stop, and another 24% said they’d feel “very unsafe.” Women are 12% more likely to pay for a hotel than stay at a sketchy truck stop than men, according to the survey’s findings.
