FMCSA Denies UPS Exemption For Truck Driver Trainers

For the second time in three years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has denied a petition from United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) seeking exemption from the entry-level driver training (ELDT) regulations. 

According to the FMCSA, as reported in CDL Life: “beginning February 7, 2022, drivers subject to the ELDT rule will be required to complete entry-level driver training from a provider that meets applicable Federal and State requirements before being permitted to take the required CDL skills or knowledge test.” Those provider standards are simple: any prospective truck driver must be trained by an instructor that 1) has at least two years of experience driving a CMV, or 2) has two years of experience as a behind-the-wheel training instructor. 

In their latest request, UPS stated that observing the two-year minimum experience requirement would mean at least 25% of the company’s certified driver instructors would not qualify to keep their posts. The company further requested a five-year exemption from the ELDT requirement that every training location be registered separately in the program’s Training Provider Registry. UPS claimed that this would be an “administrative burden” on its in-house training program, which includes approximately 1,800 UPS locations.

In a notice published Sept. 6, 2022, FMCSA formally denied both considerations, saying that the multinational shipping, receiving and supply chain management company, valued at over $80 billion, failed to show evidence that they could maintain equivalent safety practices with this exemption. 

From the FMCSA’s response: “The minimum experience standards for trainers included in the ELDT rule were built on consensus recommendations of the [Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee], a group of 26 industry stakeholders, and are firmly rooted in highway safety.”

Opposed to UPS exemption

Several independent third parties, including The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, opposed UPS’ exemption request. “OOIDA has supported national entry-level driver training standards for decades,” wrote Todd Spencer, OOIDA President & CEO. “In our opinion, the best way to promote safety is to improve driver training requirements. Currently, too many new drivers enter the industry without the basic skills to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle.” 

The Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) also opposed UPS’ effort. In a statement from CVTA: “We believe the uniform application of the regulation for all training providers should be established and followed by anyone training [student drivers]. It is our belief that if granted, the FMCSA would be setting a bad precedent and opening up the floodgates for exemptions from other training providers. Our fear is that the number of exemptions would swallow the [ELDT] rule.”

The FMCSA denied both of UPS’ requests. “It … does not provide countermeasures to be undertaken to ensure that the request would likely achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved by the entry-level driver training regulations,” FMCSA wrote.

This is not the first time that UPS has sought to play by different rules. UPS filed their first exemption request in 2019, requesting that the FMCSA waive the requirement that training instructors have two or more years of experience. The FMCSA denied that request. In 2020, in the wake of the pandemic, UPS once again asked for special consideration due to “turnover issues”; of 100 candidates hired for the position, the company was only able to retain 38 trainers. As of this writing, UPS has requested an FMCSA exemption to allow its driver trainees to operate twin 28-foot trailers while holding only a commercial learner’s permit. That application is still pending.

The workarounds by UPS, the largest courier company in the world, have been rebuffed by the FMCSA to date. Rules and regulation in the trucking industry afford all truck carriers an even playing field, and ensure that more drivers are trained properly before hitting the highway. We consider this a positive for road safety and accident prevention.

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