A third major trucking carrier is requesting a federal exemption to allow CDL permit holders to drive unsupervised.
The request from Springfield, Missouri-based Prime Inc. was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday December 20th.
Normally, a permit holder can only drive if accompanied by a licensed driver in the front seat. Under the exemption however, permit holders who have already passed the required skills test will be allowed to drive back to their home state to receive their CDLs, without a licensed driver in the front seat.
This will allow the pair to operate as a team, with the licensed driver able to rest in a truck’s sleeper berth. For Prime Inc., this means their permit holders instantly become revenue producing drivers for the company.
The Federal Register request states that 2,500 to 3,500 Commercial Learner’s Permit holders would drive under the exemption. On an average year Prime employs roughly 6,700 licensed drivers and permit holders, meaning that more than half of their fleet could be driven by permit holders if granted the exemption.
According to Prime’s website, permit holders are paid 14 cents per mile and a minimum $700 per week.
Prime Inc is the third large trucking carrier to request the exemption. CRST and CR England have already been granted similar exemptions.