Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Dec. 5, 2022:

FMCSA issues three-month licensing waiver

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a three-month waiver extension from certain regulations applicable to commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders seeking to take a skills test for a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and for states administering CDL skills tests. The agency has issued similar waivers since March 2020.

The waiver is effective December 1, 2022, and expires on February 28, 2023, or upon early termination by FMCSA, whichever is sooner.

FMCSA said it has “determined that it is in the public interest” to issue the waiver “to continue the ability of intrastate and interstate CDL and CLP holders to transport goods and people, and to provide flexibilities to state driver licensing agencies to accelerate CDL testing.”

The waiver:

• Waives the restriction that limits a state to administering a driving skills test to an out-of-state CDL applicant who has taken driver training in that state. Under the waiver, a state can administer a driving skills test to any out-of-state CDL applicant, regardless of where the applicant received driver training.
• Waives the requirement that CLP holders are not eligible to take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after initial issuance of the CLP. Under the waiver, states may, at their discretion, allow CLP holders to take the CDL skills test without waiting 14 days after initial issuance of the CLP, provided the CLP holder has completed applicable entry-level driver training requirements.

FMCSA noted that since March 2020, it has also issued a series of waivers from the requirement that a CLP holder be accompanied by a CDL holder in the front seat of the vehicle next to the CLP holder. The agency previously had issued such exemptions to an individual motor carrier that had applied for and been granted such relief. FMCSA is now returning to the previous practice of issuing such relief on a carrier-by-carrier basis only.

J.B. Hunt donates $55,000 to classrooms

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (CCJ Top 250, No. 3) recently awarded $55,000 in total to 55 classrooms throughout the country during the 10th consecutive year of its Adopt-a-Class program. 

The program is an annual company initiative providing classrooms with resources to obtain learning supplies and additional classroom essentials.

“Adopt-a-Class is one of my favorite programs we offer at J.B. Hunt because it enriches education for students all throughout the country, specifically for the families of our drivers,” said Craig Harper, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer at J.B. Hunt. “Teachers work hard to ensure their students have the resources they need to be successful, and it’s imperative we do our part in giving back to the communities we live in.”

J.B. Hunt’s Adopt-a-Class program was founded in 2013 and is a program that allows drivers to have a direct impact on giving to the community. Each year, J.B. Hunt drivers nominate their child or grandchild’s classroom — kindergarten through fifth grade — for a chance to receive a school supply donation by submitting an essay. Once the recipients are notified, drivers often visit the classrooms to congratulate the teacher and students.

Since the inception of the program, 255 classrooms across the country have been selected for Adopt-a-Class, bringing J.B. Hunt’s total classroom donation to more than $200,000.