Form MCSA 2910.1 MCSA 2910.1 Survey on Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Skills Test

Commercial Driver’s License Skills Testing Delays

SkillsTest Delays Survey

CDL Skills Test Delays Survey

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2021-01-29 - Reinstatement without change of a previously approved collection

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A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a current valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2126-XXXX. Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to be approximately 42 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. All responses to this collection of information are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Information Collection Clearance Officer, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, MC-RRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590.

Survey on Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Skills Test Delays

Background, Definitions, and Special Instructions.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is conducting this survey to fulfill a congressional requirement to report on CDL skills test delays in each State. This survey will be conducted annually, as required by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-94, Dec. 4, 2015, 49 USC 31305 note).

The following instructions are provided to help you respond to this survey efficiently and accurately. Should you have additional questions, you may reach out to the project manager, Nicole Michel via e-mail at [email protected], or phone at 202-366-4354.

This survey is intended to identify delays in scheduling CDL skills tests in your State. As mandated by Congress, FMCSA will conduct this survey annually until directed otherwise. In future years, you may choose “No change” on the background information section to note that your previous year’s answer remains the same.

Some questions are optional, and are noted throughout the survey. These questions should be skipped only if your State does not have the ability to answer it (for example, the rationale behind a test being canceled is not captured). The more information, and the more accurate the information, that you provide will help FMCSA to accurately characterize the CDL skills testing process in your State.

Please pay attention to the dates, which are bolded throughout the survey. Some questions will ask about the previous year and some will ask about the current year. Some of these questions will only need to be asked once to provide a baseline for the first report, and will be removed from future surveys.

FMCSA has attempted to provide you with several options for responding to questions about both the delay times and the test resources because FMCSA understands that each State may collect or capture this information in a different manner. FMCSA is also providing your State the option to participate in a quarterly reporting of the current delay at each test location, which would replace the need to report the average delay for your State (FMCSA would calculate it for you). Please consider this option for future reporting if feasible, as it would allow for further analysis by FMCSA.

This survey will cover five sections: State Laws & Policies, CDL Skills Testing Delays, CDL Skills Testing Volume and Demand, CDL Skills Testing Resources, and General Comments & Feedback, which is optional. While this covers more than what is mandated by Congress, FMCSA has worked to ensure that every question asked on this survey is necessary and useful in reporting. Given the unique characteristics of each State, these must be considered in the report so that delays in scheduling skills testing are not compared blindly across all States.

The following definitions are provided to assist you in the completion of this survey.

“Delay” – FMCSA is defining the delay as the number of days between the day an applicant calls to schedule their appointment and the first day with an available test appointment at the testing site. If, for some reason, an applicant chooses not to take the first available appointment, additional time is not included as part of the “delay”.
- Note: If your State cannot differentiate delays caused by personal preference, just report the delay times as seen. You may note this in the general comments section if you would like.
- Note: Mandatory wait times are not included as party of the “delay” and are recorded in the Background Information section.
“Average” – FMCSA intends for your State to provide the usual or typical delay an applicant would experience. Furthermore, a question will be asked on how you calculated this “average”. Please be as specific as possible. FMCSA does not intend to burden you with calculating an exact average, and the welcome letter provided to you with this survey provided some examples of how to report the “average” if your State does not capture this information currently.
“Banking” – There is a question asking about whether or not your State allows applicants to “bank” segments of their skills test. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology, this refers to the ability of an applicant to pass a segment of the skills tests so that if they fail the overall test, they only have to re-take the segment they failed.
“State facilities” and “State examiners” – These terms refer to official government agencies or contractors who report directly to these agencies. Examples include State licensing agencies and State law enforcement agencies.
“Third Party facilities” and “Third Party examiners” – This refers to a non-governmental organization, such as a commercial vehicle training school, which has been authorized to administer CDL skills tests on behalf of the State.

Section I. State Laws & Policies

Which State are you responding for? ____________________________
What resources can an applicant use to schedule a CDL skills test in your State? (Choose all that apply.)

□ Walk-in exams allowed

□ Phone scheduling

□ Online scheduling

□ In-person scheduling

□ Other (please specify) ______________________________________

As of January 1, 2017, what is your State’s mandatory wait period from when an applicant obtains a commercial learner’s permit (CLP) to the date an applicant is eligible to take the CDL skills test? (Choose one.)

□ 14 Days

□ Other (please specify) ____________

As of January 1, 2017, what is your State’s mandatory wait period from when an applicant failed a skills test once until the applicant is eligible to retake the skills test? (Choose one.)

□ No additional mandatory waiting period

□ 14 days

□ Other (please specify) ____________

As of January 1, 2017, what is your State’s mandatory wait period from when an applicant failed their skills test for the second time until the applicant is eligible to retake the skills test for a third time? (Choose one.)

□ No Additional Mandatory Waiting Period

□ 14 Days

□ Other (Please Specify) ____________

Does your State require an applicant to re-take the knowledge test and apply for a new CLP after failing the CDL skills a certain number of times? (Choose one.)

□ Yes (Please Specify) _____________

□ No

Does your State allow “banking” of portions of CDL skills tests? (i.e., does an applicant only have to retake the portion of the CDL skills test which he/she failed?)

□ Yes

(Optional) Comments on rationale for allowing banking: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

□ No

(Optional) Comments on rationale for not allowing banking: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What, if any, types of Third-party testing does your State utilize? (Choose all that apply.)

□ No Third-party resources are used

□ Community Colleges

□ Motor Carriers can test their current employees

□ Private driver training schools

□ Private, non-school third-party testing organizations

□ Local Government

□ Other (Please Specify) ___________________________________

Does your State utilize State facilities and examiners for CDL skills testing? (Choose one.)

□ Yes

□ No

Section II. CDL Skills Testing Delays

From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, what was the average delay (in days) that an applicant faced when scheduling their first CDL skills test at:
1. State exam sites? ____________________
2. Third-party exam sites? _______________
From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, what was the average delay (in days) that an applicant faced when scheduling a CDL skills retest (i.e., applicant had previously failed the skills test at least once) at:
1. State exam sites? ____________________
2. Third-party exam sites? _______________
What data source(s) was used to calculate the average CDL skills test delay?
1. Choose all that apply:

□ Best guess of “usual or ordinary” delay time

□ Current delays at all test locations

□ Random sample of current delays at some test locations

Please specify number of test locations used: _______________

□ Current delay at the largest/busiest test location

□ CSTIMS database

□ Other (Please Specify) _____________________________________

(Optional) Are there any known limitations to the data source used?

For future reporting, would your State be interested in reporting the next available test at each location on a quarterly (once every 3 months) basis? (Note that if you choose to report delay times quarterly, the next time this annual survey is conducted you will not be required to complete Section II, as FMCSA will calculate the average for your State based on the quarterly survey unless you choose to provide additional data.)

□ Yes

□ No

Section III. CDL Skills Testing Volume and Demand

From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, how many of the following CDLs did your State issue? (Note: Report only those CDLs requiring the driver to take at least a portion of the CDL skills test)

New CDLs (driver has never previously held a CDL) ___________________
Reinstated CDLs ________________
Upgraded CDLs (driver received a new CDL for a higher class than previously designated) _______________
CDLs where one of the following restrictions was lifted: pintle hook, air brake, air over hydraulic brake, or automatic transmission ______________

From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, how many of the following skills tests were administered:
1. Initial tests (first skills test attempt for new CDLs, or first attempt to upgrade/remove restrictions on current CDL) at State exam sites? __________________
2. Initial tests at third-party exam sites? __________________
3. Retests (applicant had failed one or more times previously) at State exam sites? __________________
4. Retests at third-party exam sites? __________________
From January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, how many of the following skills tests were administered:
1. Out-of-State applicants at State exam sites? _______________________
2. Out-of-State applicants at third-party exam sites? ____________________
From January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, how many CDLs did your State issue where the CDL skills test was taken in a different State? ________________
From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, how many CDL skills test cancellations did your State have at:
1. State exam sites? ___________________
2. Third-party exam sites? _______________
(Optional) From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, how many applicants did not show up, or showed up late (missed their scheduled time) and were therefore unable to take their scheduled CDL skills test (i.e., the examinee was a no-show) at:
1. State exam sites? _______________
2. Third-party exam sites? _________________
(Optional) From January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, how many applicants were not able to take a scheduled CDL skills test due to vehicle problems (e.g., vehicle was out of service or wrong class of vehicle) at:
1. State exam sites? _______________
2. Third-party exam sites? _________________
From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, how many failed CDL skills tests did your State have at:
1. State exam sites? __________________
2. Third-party exam sites? ________________

Section IV. CDL Skills Testing Resources

For the following questions (24-26), you may choose to break out test sites and examiners by class, if that information is available. If you choose to break out resources by class, when test sites cover multiple classes, they are counted in both responses. For example, if there are 10 Class A test sites that also perform Class B skills tests, and 10 additional Class B-only test sites, the response would read 10 for Class A and 20 for Class B. Therefore, the sub-parts of the question do not necessarily have to add up to the total number

As of January 1, 2016, how many of the following CDL skills testing locations did your State have?
1. Total number of State locations for CDL skills testing: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of State class A skills test locations: _______________
  2. (Optional) Number of State class B skills test locations: ______________
  3. (Optional) Number of State class C skills test locations: _______________
  4. (Optional) Number of State passenger bus skills test locations: ______________
  5. (Optional) Number of State school bus skills test locations: _______________
2. Total number of third-party locations for CDL skills testing: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of third-party class A skills test locations: _____________
  2. (Optional) Number of third-party class B skills test locations: _____________
  3. (Optional) Number of third-party class C skills test locations: ____________
  4. (Optional) Number of third-party passenger bus skills test locations: _____________
  5. (Optional) Number of third-party school bus skills test locations: _____________
As of January 1, 2017, how many of the following CDL skills testing locations does your State have?
1. Total number of State locations for CDL skills testing: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of State class A skills test locations: _______________
  2. (Optional) Number of State class B skills test locations: ______________
  3. (Optional) Number of State class C skills test locations: _______________
  4. (Optional) Number of State passenger bus skills test locations: ______________
  5. (Optional) Number of State school bus skills test locations: _______________
2. Total number of third-party locations for CDL skills testing: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of third-party class A skills test locations: _____________
  2. (Optional) Number of third-party class B skills test locations: _____________
  3. (Optional) Number of third-party class C skills test locations: ____________
  4. (Optional) Number of third-party passenger bus skills test locations: _____________
  5. (Optional) Number of third-party school bus skills test locations: _____________
As of January 1, 2017, how many of the following CDL skills test licensed examiners does your State have?
1. Total number of State employed CDL skills test examiners: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of State examiners for class A skills tests: _______________
  2. (Optional) Number of State examiners for class B skills tests: ______________
  3. (Optional) Number of State examiners for class C skills tests: _______________
  4. (Optional) Number of State examiners for passenger bus skills tests: ______________
  5. (Optional) Number of State examiners for school bus skills tests: _______________
2. Total number of third-party employed CDL skills test examiners: ______________
  1. (Optional) Number of third-party examiners for class A skills tests: _____________
  2. (Optional) Number of third-party examiners for class B skills tests: _____________
  3. (Optional) Number of third-party examiners for class C skills tests: ____________
  4. (Optional) Number of third-party examiners for passenger bus skills tests: _____________
  5. (Optional) Number of third-party examiners for school bus skills tests: _____________

Section V. (Optional) General Comments and Feedback

(Optional) What factors did your State consider when deciding whether or not to use third party testing?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Optional) What is the maximum delay in scheduling a CDL skills test that your State feels would be reasonable to both the State and the applicants? Please provide information on possible impacts of delays to both the State and the applicant.

(Optional) What steps would your State have to take to ensure the average delay time for scheduling a CDL skills test was 7 days or less? Would this be reasonable for your State to achieve?

Thank you for your participation in this survey. Your feedback is both necessary and greatly appreciated. It is important to FMCSA to hear from every State so we can accurately categorize how unique each State is.

If you have additional comments, feel free to provide them below.

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