The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration today posted a final rule that amends federal safety regulations to allow states to waive the hazardous materials (HM) endorsement requirement for holders of Class A CDLs who transport no more than 1,000 gallons of aviation-grade jet fuel in support of seasonal agricultural aircraft operations.
The proposed rulemaking to amend 49 CFR Part 383, first posted in December 2024, received 64 comments, of which 42 “fully supported” the rule, 20 “generally supported” the rule with modifications—mainly to expand the waiver’s applicability to other CDL classes, FMCSA reported—and only two opposed the rulemaking, with one of those coming from an anonymous source.
National Tank Truck Carriers was the only named dissenter.
The trade association voiced concerns raised by members of its Safety and Security Council, Workforce Committee, and Energy Services Committee regarding a range of safety matters, including driver training, incident response and reporting, and equipment safety, stating the proposed rulemaking would exempt certain drivers from having to complete the four-step process of obtaining an HM endorsement, including a theory training module, a written exam, a TSA Security Threat Assessment, and, if applicable, paying a state driver licensing agency fee.
“It is no secret that safety is at the heart of everything NTTC does, especially given the nature of the often-hazardous materials commodities transported by NTTC carriers,” Will Lusk, NTTC director of education and government relations, wrote in a Feb. 3, 2025, letter to FMCSA. “These carriers have expressed concern that, if approved, FMCSA-2024-0121 would open the door for even more use of inexperienced, undertrained and unqualified HM drivers that will almost certainly result in additional risk exposure for all parties involved and the motoring public. Given the inherent dangers hauling hazardous materials, an accident involving even less than 1,000 gallons of fuel can still result in catastrophic consequences.”
Lusk concludes in his remarks that “approval of FMCSA-2024-0121 would allow unscreened and under-trained commercial drivers to haul volatile aviation fuel on America’s public highways. This proposed rulemaking does not achieve an equal level of safety currently set for the public; therefore, NTTC urges FMCSA to deny this proposed rulemaking.”
FMCSA: HM waiver won’t reduce safety
FMCSA responded to NTTC’s safety and security concerns in its final-rule notice.
