A new federal rule may come to realization according to which truck drivers with insulin-treated diabetes will not be requested a formal exemption from the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).
On Monday the FMCSA announced that it needs public feedback on a revised 2015 rule which was about abolishing the exemption request for insulin-dependent diabetic truckers. The rule instead would give individual medical examiners authority to deny or to grant diabetic drivers’ medical certificates.
FMCSA is accepting comments until Sept. 25. FMCSA may have drivers submit an assessment form to their medical examiner, as part of the revised rule. The above-mentioned assessment form would ask the following questions:
- Trucker’s history with insulin
- Date of their last comprehensive eye exam
- Any diabetes-related difficulties they’ve experienced and more.
The agency has not provided a certain timeline for implementation of the new protocol. It should proceed with the rule.
The agency said in its announcement that “This information will assist the (medical examiner) in determining whether insulin treatment or any medical complications of diabetes will impact a driver’s ability to safely operate a CMV. Therefore, FMCSA expects that 100 percent of drivers who are treated with insulin and intend to operate a CMV in interstate commerce will have the form completed by their (treating clinician).”
Public comments on the revised rule proposal, identified as FMCSA-2005-23151, can be submitted online through the Federal rulemaking Portal.
