SPECIAL REPORT
haul truck drivers. Those parts of the test can be intimidating for many potential school bus driver candidates, especially since they are never going to leave the bus to repair it along the side of the road. The truck driving requirements aren’t aligned with our role as school bus operators. Remov- al of those requirements wouldn’t cause a loss of safety to students or the motoring public.”
Macysyn noted significant sup-
port in Congress, and there were meetings with FMSCA in early October. “They’ve been reviewing modernization of their regulations,” Macysyn said. “They understand our plight and want to help.” Since 1986, FMCSA has regulat-
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ed commercial licensing. “Safety is the U.S. Department of Trans- portation’s and FMCSA’s highest priority,” commented spokesman Duane DeBruyne. “Creating a new school bus only license cate- gory would have to be completed through the federal rulemaking process, which cannot be com- pleted short-term. To create a new school bus specific license, evidentiary material obtained through research studies pro- viding factual data that the same level of safety would be achieved would be needed.” He added that the standalone
CDL would limit the license holder to strictly operating school buses only, as opposed to a Class B license, which allows a broader range of work across the industry. DeBruyne also mentioned that
FMCSA is currently conducting a pilot program in Maryland, New Hampshire and Virginia to mod- ernize the CDL skills test. The primary goal of the program is to improve efficiencies, making it swifter for all commercial learn- er permit holders to obtain their CDL. And it address some of the technical and mechanical testing requirements that bus officials have asked to be reconsidered. “The emphasis is on road safety
conduct, and less on memoriza- tion not directly tied with road safety,” DeBruyne said. “At this early phase of the pilot program, it would be scientifically inap- propriate to suggest any hint of conclusiveness of the finding results.” ●
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