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Biden administration withdraws its vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses

Caroline Vakil, The Hill
Jan. 25, 2022

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it is withdrawing its vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees after the Supreme Court earlier this month blocked the requirement from being enforced, ruling that it was a federal overreach. Given the Supreme Court's decision, the Biden administration filed a motion on Tuesday to have the existing lawsuits that were filed against the employer vaccine mandate dismissed. Twenty-seven Republican-led states and a coalition of businesses had brought those legal challenges against the mandate. “The federal government respectfully moves to dismiss the petitions challenging the Vaccination and Testing emergency temporary standard (Vaccination and Testing ETS) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to address the grave danger of COVID-19 in the workplace,” the Biden administration said in a motion. The Biden administration said that it would be withdrawing the mandate, effective on Wednesday, asking for the existing lawsuits against it to be considered moot.

This morning, OSHA announced that it is withdrawing its vaccinate-or-test emergency temporary standard, effective upon publication in tomorrow’s Federal Register. On January 13, the Supreme Court had stayed the ETS pending full resolution of the challenges filed by ATA and other groups, and making clear that those challenges were going to succeed on the merits because, in the Court’s view, OSHA did not have the authority to promulgate this ETS. With this notice, OSHA chose to withdraw the rule rather than continue the litigation in the court of appeals. However, OSHA indicated that this withdrawal does not affect the notice-and-comment rulemaking that the ETS commenced, leaving open the possibility that OSHA will try to promulgate some kind of covid-related standard under its non-emergency authority. ATA will continue to monitor those efforts and update members on significant developments.

HERE IS THE FEDERAL REGISTER FOR THE PROGRAM:

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0346]

Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot

Program To Allow Persons Ages 18,

19, and 20 To Operate Commercial

Motor Vehicles in Interstate Commerce

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration (FMCSA), Department

of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and establishment of

pilot program.

SUMMARY: On September 10, 2020,

FMCSA proposed a pilot program to

allow persons ages 18, 19, and 20 to

operate commercial motor vehicles

(CMVs) in interstate commerce. That

pilot was never implemented. However,

the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs

Act (IIJA), which was signed into law on

November 15, 2021, requires FMCSA to

establish a pilot program that would

allow employers to establish an

apprenticeship program for certain 18-,

19-, and 20-year-old drivers to operate

commercial vehicles in interstate

commerce. This notice addresses the

comments received on the September

10, 2020, notice and provides the details

on the establishment of the Safe Driver

Apprenticeship Pilot Program required

by the IIJA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Nikki McDavid, Commercial Driver’s

License Division, Federal Motor Carrier

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590–

0001, [email protected], (202)

366–0831. If you have questions about

viewing or submitting material to the

docket, call DOT Dockets Operations,

(202) 366–9826.

Believe it or not the Federal Government has removed a hoop to jump through for those requiring vision exemptions.  Here is the Federal Register:

Docket No. FMCSA–2019–0049]

RIN 2126–AC21

Qualifications of Drivers; Vision

Standard

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration (FMCSA), Department

of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: FMCSA amends its

regulations to permit individuals who

do not satisfy, with the worse eye, either

the existing distant visual acuity

standard with corrective lenses or the

field of vision standard, or both, to be

physically qualified to operate a

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in

interstate commerce under specified

conditions. Currently, such individuals

are prohibited from driving CMVs in

interstate commerce unless they obtain

an exemption from FMCSA. The new

alternative vision standard replaces the

current vision exemption program as the

basis for determining the physical

qualification of these individuals.

DATES: This final rule is effective March

22, 2022.

FMCSA is proceeding with the under 21 year old driver program.  There will be some significant hoops to jump through but, the end result should be worth the effort.  Here is a short segment of the proposed program:

More Details on the Younger-Driver Program

The notice explains that an “apprentice” for this program is defined as a person under the age of 21 who holds a commercial driver's license. These apprentices will complete two probationary periods where they may operate in interstate commerce under the supervision of an experienced driver in the passenger seat.

Those experienced drivers must be at least 26 years old and have held a CDL and been employed for at least the past two years, with at least five years of interstate CMV experience, along with other safety requirements.

The first probationary period will be 120 hours of on-duty time (at least 80 of which must be driving) in length, during which the motor carrier must evaluate the apprentice on the following:

1.    Interstate, city traffic, rural 2-lane, and evening driving;

2.    Safety awareness;

3.    Speed and space management;

4.    Lane control;

5.    Mirror scanning;

6.    Right and left turns; and

7.    Logging and complying with rules relating to hours of service.

The second probationary period will be 280 hours of on-duty time (at least 160 of which must be driving), during which the motor carrier will evaluate the apprentice on the following:

1.    Backing and maneuvering in close quarters;

2.    Pre-trip inspections;

3.    Fueling procedures;

4.    Weighing loads, weight distribution, and sliding tandems;

5.    Coupling and uncoupling procedures; and

6.    Trip planning, truck routes, map reading, navigation, and permits.

Assuming the apprentice successfully completes both probationary periods, he/she will then be permitted to operate in interstate commerce unaccompanied.

In addition to data regarding successful completion of the probationary periods, FMCSA wants to collect data relating to any incident in which a participating apprentice is involved, as well as other data relating to the safety of apprentices. Additional data will include crash data (incident reports, police reports, insurance reports), inspection data, citation data, safety event data (as recorded by all safety systems installed on vehicles), as well as exposure data (record of duty status logs, on-duty time, driving time, and time spent away from home terminal). This data will be submitted monthly through participating motor carriers.

Trucks used in the program will have to be equipped with advanced driver assistance systems, automatic emergency braking systems, onboard monitoring systems, and forward-facing and in-cab video systems.

The development of autonomous trucks is advancing at a pretty good pace.  A recent test run from a rail yard to a distrubution center in Arizona was successful: 

Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple has completed its first autonomous truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle, according to the company. TuSimple’s Autonomous Driving System (ADS) navigated 100% of the 80-mile run along surface streets and highways between a railyard in Tuscon, Arizona and a distribution center in Phoenix, which took place with no human intervention, marking a milestone for the company that aims to scale its technology into purpose-built trucks by 2024, says president and CEO Cheng Lu.

How many of us thought you could never put a movie on a plastic disc?  There are many challenges to the ADS but it may be coming to a highway near you quicker than expected.

It is hard to believe in the modern world we live in that human trafficking still exists.  Unfortunately this horrible situation is still active and the bad actors prey upon the most vulnerable.  TAT is a group that educates truckers and others who travel frequently on what to look for to spot suspected victims of trafficking.  January 11 - 13 is TAT awareness week.  If you see something, say something.

CVSA posted a bulletin to inspectors concerning enforcement of UCR payments.  Here is the message to inspectors:  Enforcement Guidance The 2022 UCR enforcement began Jan. 1, 2022. The UCR Board recommends that states begin enforcement for the 2022 registration year on Jan. 1, 2022. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has a Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) violation code in the inspection software to indicate that a carrier is not in compliance with UCR, which is 392.2 UCR - Failure to pay UCR fees. Any non-compliance of UCR fees should be documented and the driver should be issued a citation. The link to the website for payment is:  https://www.ucr.gov/

I was surprised to see the number of crashes in the area on Monday.  The conditions were perfect for slick roads.  Before you leave your home, check the outside temperature.  If it is in the mid-thirties or below proceed with caution.  Monday we had low temperatures and fog.  That vapor freezes fast and too many found out the hard way that traction on those surfaces is non-existent.  I passed many crashed vehicles sitting on the shoulder.  Be safe.  Take it slow.  One of my drivers told me years ago, "I tell them if they say the load it hot that it will get there two seconds after I do."

I hope you all have a great time celebrating with family and friends over the holiday season.  I have a word of caution.  If you find yourself indulging  more than usual first of all don't drive and second remember that the BAC level for CDL drivers is .04%.  Make sure you have ample time to let the alcohol purge from your system before returning to driving.  The Return to Duty process is long and costly.  Be safe.