Enforcement of Medical Examiner’s Certificate Integration with the Commercial Driver’s License

Enforcement of Medical Examiner’s Certificate Integration with the Commercial Driver’s License Trooper Jim Armstrong Arizona Department of Public Safety State Training Coordinator

Overview  Background  Regulations  Issues Roadside  Guidance Roadside  CDL Roadside Scenario’s  Non-CDL Roadside Scenario’s  Commercial Drivers License Status  MEC Integration Flowchart  Questions? 3

Background Mandated December 1, 2008 by FMCSA Original Compliance Date January 30, 2012 Extended to January 30, 2014 Final extension date January 30,

Regulation  (a)(2)  Drivers Required to have a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) that submitted a current Medical Examiners Certificate (MEC) to State Drivers License Agency (SDLA) in accordance with (h) no longer need to carry on their person after 15 days.  Commercial Learners Permit (CLP) effective July 8, 2015  CDL/CLP holders must still posses medical variance documentation 5

Regulation  (h) Medical Certification Required by the State  Driver provides the State the original or copy of their current Medical Examiners Certificate, the State will post on the Commercial Drivers License Information System (CDLIS) “Certified”.  Driver fails to provide the State the original or copy of the MEC, the State will post “Not Certified” on the CDLIS driver record and initiate CDL downgrade. 6

Issues Roadside  CVSA’s 2015 North American Standard Out-of- Service Criteria (OOSC) refers to “valid medical certificate in possession”.  The January 30, 2015 CDL/CLP Exception no longer requires possession of a medical certificate.  Without enforcement guidance, drivers could be declared OOS when drivers are not in possession of MEC’s –Passenger-carrying vehicle drivers –Property-carrying with previous MEC violation history 7

Guidance Roadside  On or after January 30, 2015, a check the CDL drivers Information via CDLIS or NLETS indicates the driver is medically qualified, shall constitute “possession of a valid medical certificate” and in compliance with (a)(1).  This applies to operation of all CMV’s (CDL and non- CDL) driven by a CDL holder.  On or after July 8, 2015, this applies to CLP holder also. 8

CDL Roadside Scenario's  CDL is valid, medical indicator shows medical information on file. No violation.  CDL is valid, medical indicator show no medical information on file, no medical certificate in possession. Cite (a)(1) 9

CDL Roadside Scenario's  CDL is valid, medical indicator show no medical information on file, current medical certificate in driver’s possession. No violation, if this is within 60 days after the MEC date of examination.  61 days or more, violation and cite (h). –NOTE: This is not a violation of (a)(1) and would not result in a driver being placed OOS. 10

Non-CDL Roadside Scenario's  The driver of the non-CDL vehicle must have either the MEC in their possession, or if they hold a CDL the medical information must be contained on their State drivers license file. 11

Commercial Drivers License Status  This medical qualification process is new for most of the States and inspectors will be encountering drivers that say they have submitted the required documentation and have complied.  However, if the home State has cancelled, downgraded, disqualified, revoked, suspended, their license, the driver must deal with that State to correct the issue. The fact that they have a medical certificate in their possession does not change the status of their license. Driver OOS, Cite (a)(2) 12

Medical Examiner’s Integration Flowchart 13

Resources     14

Trooper Jim Armstrong Arizona Department of Public Safety Lt. Donald Bridge Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles This webinar will be available for viewing in the CVSA portal under “My Video & Webinar Library”. Please allow 2 days for the recording to be uploaded. Q & A