Professional group seeks five-year waiver for CDL drivers

American Public Transportation Association has requested a five-year exemption from the Under-the-Hood Testing Requirement to allow states to waive the specific requirement for CDL applicants seeking to operate public transportation vehicles, including those involved in interstate transportation.

The request to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would exempt from the commercial driver's license a testing requirement for operators in public transportation and allow states nationwide to waive the specific requirements for CDL applicants.

APTA, a nonprofit international association with 1,600 public and private organizations, is a $79 billion industry that employs 430,000 people.

The request comes after APTA revealed in new research documents that 85% of public transit agencies are suffering from worker shortages in bus operator positions and are facing challenges in trying to fill them.

"This exemption is crucial for addressing the severe workforce challenges facing our industry while maintaining our unwavering commitment to safety," said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas in a release. "The current CDL 'under-the-hood' testing requirement has become a significant barrier to recruiting qualified transit operators, at a time when our industry desperately needs them."

If the exemption isn't approved, the report says public transit agencies will continue to have severe driver shortages.

Exemptions would remove bus operators' responsibility for vehicle maintenance and put it on trained mechanics to handle any issues "under the hood."

The request says, "The CDL 'under-the-hood' requirement creates unnecessary barriers for otherwise qualified candidates," while switching to zero-emission vehicles is making some of the testing obsolete.

Lastly, the report says the exemption would provide a greater level of safety.

"Public transit agencies employ dedicated maintenance professionals who are responsible for vehicle inspections and repairs," Skoutelas continued. "Removing this unnecessary barrier will help us attract qualified candidates while maintaining our industry's exemplary safety record. The proposed five-year exemption would provide a runway for state authorities to update their training and credentialing programs, giving transit agencies the flexibility to meet pressing workforce demands."

The request acknowledges previous exemptions given to the school bus industry.

If approved, APTA states that the five-year timeline would give the state licensing authorities enough time to make changes while helping transport agencies address the critical workforce needs.

The request comes after APTA released a report on 117 public transit agencies of varying sizes across the United States.

The report found that 92.3% of transit agencies view the under-the-hood content as either irrelevant or only somewhat relevant to operators. However, the report also stated that all agencies have separate maintenance workers who hold responsibilities for both routine bus maintenance and breakdowns that occur.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for bus drivers in the United States is $23.37, which equals $48,600 for a 40-hour-a-week position, as previously reported by The Center Square.