FMCSA receives comments on proposal to lift ban on CMV drivers with diabetes

Washington – The comment period has closed on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed changes to regulations regarding commercial motor vehicle drivers who have insulin-dependent diabetes.

FMCSA prohibits drivers with insulin-dependent diabetes from operating CMVs unless they obtain an exemption every two years. In May 2015, FMCSA proposed allowing drivers whose insulin-dependent diabetes is controlled to seek an annual medical examiner’s certificate to drive.

In July 2015, FMCSA’s medical review board reviewed comments from medical professionals and labor and trade associations on the proposal. It then recommended to FMCSA that a completed questionnaire be sent from the treating clinician to the certified medical examiner to help determine a driver’s fitness. That recommendation and others – a mandatory eye exam every two years, for example – were made open for comment.

Review of the latest comments may affect the decision to alter or keep a current form as is with information gathered by the treating clinician. At press time, the current requirements for exemptions were set to end Aug. 31, 2018.