Three FMCSA Rules Just Published, All Effective July 22

On June 22 FMCSA published three final rules in one go. All three take effect on July 22, and all three remove a requirement rather than adding one. Here is the short version of each.

Self-reporting is going away

Right now a CDL holder is supposed to report certain motor vehicle convictions to their state of domicile themselves. That duty is being removed. Since states began exchanging conviction data electronically in 2024, the self-report was telling your state something it already knew. Full text is in the Removal of Self-Reporting Requirement rule.

This is the only one of the three that changes a duty sitting on drivers rather than carriers.

The ELD manual leaves the cab

FMCSA is rescinding the requirement to keep a paper copy of the electronic logging device operator's manual in the vehicle. The agency's reasoning is that ELDs have been in use since December 2019 and there is no clear safety benefit to the paper copy. See the rule.

Read that one carefully, though. The manual leaving the cab does not mean you stop being responsible for knowing how your ELD works.

Inspection reports only go back to states that want them

After a roadside inspection, carriers have had to sign and return the completed form to the issuing state. Not every state actually wants it back. Under the new rule the form only goes back to states that request it. This one came from a petition by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the organization that writes the out-of-service criteria.

What this means if you are still testing

Nothing changes about the knowledge test or the skills test. None of these rules touch what is on the exam or how you get licensed. If you are studying now, carry on with the general knowledge material and ignore the noise.

We will go through the self-reporting and ELD changes in more detail before July 22, because both are easy to misread.