North Carolina programs that train drivers of commercial vehicles will need to wait to find out when standards published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will become effective. The FMCSA had originally intended the Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Vehicle Operators to roll out in February 2017, but President Trump halted new federal regulations across all agencies upon taking office.
The goal of the training requirements had been to establish a classroom curriculum for new drivers nationwide. The regulations included the requirement for behind-the-wheel training for people who would receive their commercial driver’s licenses on or after Feb. 7, 2020. The agency also called for the creation of a national registry of certified trainers.
A 60-day ban on new regulations issued by the president caused the FMCSA to bump out the effective date for the training program to March 21. Reviews by the Trump administration, however, could cause further delays.
The desire to reduce commercial truck accidents is behind these types of regulations. Issues such as inadequate truck maintenance and truck driver fatigue contribute to crashes that inflict severe injuries. A person hurt in an accident with a big rig might want the support of an attorney when pursuing damages. Organizing evidence and navigating insurance and courtroom bureaucracies could be handled by an attorney. To identify responsible parties, an attorney could collect evidence from a police accident report, driver log and maintenance records at the trucking company. A victim’s claim for compensation could use documented acts of negligence found by an attorney to justify a settlement.