Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration March 27, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces that Daimler Trucks North America (Daimler) has requested an exemption for one commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver from the Federal requirement to hold a commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. Daimler requests that the exemption cover a project engineer who will test drive CMVs for Daimler within the United States. This driver holds a valid German CDL and wants to test-drive Daimler vehicles on U.S. roads to better understand product requirements for these systems in ``real world'' environments, and verify results. Daimler believes the requirements for a German CDL ensure that the same level of safety is met or exceeded as if this driver had a U.S. State-issued CDL.

FMCSA announces that it is reinstating the informal hearing procedure authorized under the Rules of Practice for Motor Carrier, Intermodal Equipment Provider, Broker, Freight Forwarder, and Hazardous Materials Proceedings (Rules of Practice), codified at 49 CFR part 386. On June 7, 2010, the Agency stated that it would not entertain new requests for informal hearings pending a reevaluation of the procedure, based on concerns about the neutrality of Agency Hearing Officers. After conducting numerous informal hearings (involving cases that were pending at the time the 2010 notice was published) with an attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel's Section of Adjudications serving as Hearing Officer, the Agency believes informal hearings should remain an option for administrative adjudication of contested civil penalty claims and will again permit respondents in enforcement cases to request this option. Prior to June 7, 2010, FMCSA had made informal hearings available only to respondents located within its Eastern and Midwestern Service Centers. The Agency removes this geographical limitation and will make informal hearings available to all respondents, regardless of where they are domiciled.