Nearly 22,000 Examiners Official
The ATA is asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to push back the effective date of its National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners until more examiners can be added. The rule’s effective date is this week, May 21 and all drivers who need medical certification or recertification are required to receive it from an FMCSA-certified examiner after the date stated.
ATA President and CEO Bill Graves sent FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro a letter May 8 showing support for the rule but explaining that more time was needed to address the issue at hand. “Not only will the registry lack sufficient numbers of examiners in sum, but the system will be hindered by the inadequate geographic coverage,” Graves wrote in the letter about the May 21 deadline. “Without an adequate supply of medical examiners appropriately dispersed around the country, drivers and motor carriers may be unable to fully comply without excessive expense and costly delays,” Graves wrote.
As of May 17, nearly 22,000 examiners were official. The rule estimated that 40,000 examiners were needed to care for over 4 million truck drivers and clearly FMCSA is no where near that amount as of yet. More then likely, we’ll see an extension but it is unknown how much time FMCSA will allow.
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