4506.09 Rules for qualification and testing of applicants.
4506.09 Rules for qualification and testing of applicants.
(A) The registrar of motor vehicles, subject to approval by the director of public safety, shall adopt rules conforming with applicable standards adopted by the federal motor carrier safety administration as regulations under Pub. L. No. 103-272 , 108 Stat. 1014 to 1029 (1994), 49 U.S.C.A. 31301 to31317. The rules shall establish requirements for the qualification and testing of persons applying for a commercial driver’s license, which shall be in addition to other requirements established by this chapter. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, the highway patrol or any other employee of the department of public safety the registrar authorizes shall supervise and conduct the testing of persons applying for a commercial driver’s license.
(B) The director may adopt rules, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and applicable requirements of the federal motor carrier safety administration, authorizing the skills test specified in this section to be administered by any person, by an agency of this or another state, or by an agency, department, or instrumentality of local government. Each party authorized under this division to administer the skills test may charge a maximum divisible fee of eighty-five dollars for each skills test given as part of a commercial driver’s license examination. The fee shall consist of not more than twenty dollars for the pre-trip inspection portion of the test, not more than twenty dollars for the off-road maneuvering portion of the test, and not more than forty-five dollars for the on-road portion of the test. Each such party may require an appointment fee in the same manner provided in division (E)(2) of this section, except that the maximum amount such a party may require as an appointment fee is eighty-five dollars. The skills test administered by another party under this division shall be the same as otherwise would be administered by this state. The other party shall enter into an agreement with the director that, without limitation, does all of the following:
(1) Allows the director or the director’s representative and the federal motor carrier safety administration or its representative to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits of the other party without prior notice;
(2) Requires the director or the director’s representative to conduct on-site inspections of the other party at least annually;
(3) Requires that all examiners of the other party meet the same qualification and training standards as examiners of the department of public safety, to the extent necessary to conduct skills tests in the manner required by 49 C.F.R. 383.110 through 383.135;
(4) Requires either that state employees take, at least annually and as though the employees were test applicants, the tests actually administered by the other party, that the director test a sample of drivers who were examined by the other party to compare the test results, or that state employees accompany a test applicant during an actual test;
(5) Reserves to this state the right to take prompt and appropriate remedial action against testers of the other party if the other party fails to comply with standards of this state or federal standards for the testing program or with any other terms of the contract.
(C) The director shall enter into an agreement with the department of education authorizing the skills test specified in this section to be administered by the department at any location operated by the department for purposes of training and testing school bus drivers, provided that the agreement between the director and the department complies with the requirements of division (B) of this section. Skills tests administered by the department shall be limited to persons applying for a commercial driver’s license with a school bus endorsement.
(D) The director shall adopt rules, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, authorizing waiver of the skills test specified in this section for any applicant for a commercial driver’s license who meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Certifies that, during the two-year period immediately preceding application for a commercial driver’s license, all of the following apply:
(a) The applicant has not had more than one license.
(b) The applicant has not had any license suspended, revoked, or canceled.
(c) The applicant has not had any convictions for any type of motor vehicle for the offenses for which disqualification is prescribed in section 4506.16 of the Revised Code.
(d) The applicant has not had any violation of a state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control other than a parking violation arising in connection with any traffic accident and has no record of an accident in which the applicant was at fault.
(e) The applicant has previously taken and passed a skills test given by a state with a classified licensing and testing system in which the test was behind-the-wheel in a representative vehicle for the applicant’s commercial driver’s license classification.
(2) Certifies and also provides evidence that the applicant is regularly employed in a job requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle and that one of the following applies:
(a) The applicant has previously taken and passed a skills test given by a state with a classified licensing and testing system in which the test was behind-the-wheel in a representative vehicle for the applicant’s commercial driver’s license classification.
(b) The applicant has regularly operated, for at least two years immediately preceding application for a commercial driver’s license, a vehicle representative of the commercial motor vehicle the applicant operates or expects to operate.
(E)(1) The department of public safety may charge and collect a divisible fee of fifty dollars for each skills test given as part of a commercial driver’s license examination. The fee shall consist of ten dollars for the pre-trip inspection portion of the test, ten dollars for the off-road maneuvering portion of the test, and thirty dollars for the on-road portion of the test.
(2) The director may require an applicant for a commercial driver’s license who schedules an appointment with the highway patrol or other authorized employee of the department of public safety to take all portions of the skills test, to pay an appointment fee of fifty dollars at the time of scheduling the appointment. If the applicant appears at the time and location specified for the appointment and takes all portions of the skills test during that appointment, the appointment fee shall serve as the skills test fee. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take all portions of the skills test and fails to appear at the time and location specified for the appointment, no portion of the appointment fee shall be refunded. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take all portions of the skills test and appears at the time and location specified for the appointment, but declines or is unable to take all portions of the skills test, no portion of the appointment fee shall be refunded. If the applicant cancels a scheduled appointment forty-eight hours or more prior to the time of the appointment time, the applicant shall not forfeit the appointment fee.
An applicant for a commercial driver’s license who schedules an appointment to take one or more, but not all, portions of the skills test shall be required to pay an appointment fee equal to the costs of each test scheduled, as prescribed in division (E)(1) of this section, when scheduling such an appointment. If the applicant appears at the time and location specified for the appointment and takes all the portions of the skills test during that appointment that the applicant was scheduled to take, the appointment fee shall serve as the skills test fee. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take one or more, but not all, portions of the skills test and fails to appear at the time and location specified for the appointment, no portion of the appointment fee shall be refunded. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take one or more, but not all, portions of the skills test and appears at the time and location specified for the appointment, but declines or is unable to take all portions of the skills test that the applicant was scheduled to take, no portion of the appointment fee shall be refunded. If the applicant cancels a scheduled appointment forty-eight hours or more prior to the time of the appointment time, the applicant shall not forfeit the appointment fee.
(3) The department of public safety shall deposit all fees it collects under division (E) of this section in the state highway safety fund.
(F) As used in this section, “skills test” means a test of an applicant’s ability to drive the type of commercial motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks a commercial driver’s license by having the applicant drive such a motor vehicle while under the supervision of an authorized state driver’s license examiner or tester.
Effective Date: 09-01-2000; 09-16-2004; 03-29-2005