Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration January 5, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to grant Volvo Trucks North America, Inc.'s (Volvo) application for an exemption for one of its drivers to enable him to test-drive commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States without a commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. Volvo stated the exemption is needed to support a field test to meet future air quality standards and to test-drive Volvo prototype vehicles to verify results in ``real world'' environments. Its driver holds a valid CDL issued in Sweden but lacks the U.S. residency necessary to obtain a CDL issued by one of the States. FMCSA believes the knowledge and skills testing and training program that drivers must undergo to obtain a Swedish CDL ensures that their drivers will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption.