**TRANS AM AMBULANCE SERVICES, INC.**

**1658 OLEAN - PORTVILLE ROAD OLEAN, NY 14760**

**PHONE 716 -372-5871 FAX 716-372-1856**

Docket #FMCSA-2007-27748

Docket Management Facility

U.S. Department of Transportation

Room W12-140

1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E.

Washington, DC 20590-001

Re: Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor

Vehicle Operators

Dear Sir or Madam:

I write to you today to submit comments on the subject proposed rule. I
am the Chief Operating Officer of Trans Am Ambulance Services Inc., a
medical transportation company located in Olean, New York. We provide
service in Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties in rural Western New York
State.

I operate a fleet that includes 6 for Hire Wheel Chair Vans. We
currently run an "in house" safe driver Training program to prepare our
entry level driver for CDL licensure. This serves our company's needs
very well.

Our company is located close to the border with the state of
Pennsylvania and we routinely operate within the states of New York and
Pennsylvania. Thus we are engaged in interstate commerce.

New York State Regulation expands the scope of the requirement for
drivers to hold a Commercial Drivers License beyond the federal rules.

In New York State, operators of for hire Wheelchair vans
(inappropriately called ambulettes), that carry less than 15 passengers,
are subject to regulation by the NYSDOT. The operators of for hire
ambulettes must obtain a Certificate of Authority to operate as a Common
Carrier from the NYSDOT.

A bus, by definition in section 19 A of the NYS vehicle and Traffic Law,
is a vehicle operated by a Motor Carrier that is required to obtain
approval to operate as a common carrier.

Thus ambulette drivers are Bus drivers in New York States Regulatory
scheme, and are required to obtain a Commercial Drivers License in spite
of the fact that they do not operate Commercial Motor Vehicles

> By definition, **Commercial motor vehicle (CMV)** means a motor
> vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport
> passengers or property if the motor vehicle-
>
> \(a\) Has a gross combination weight rating of 11,794 kilograms or
> more (26,001 pounds or more) inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross
> vehicle weight rating of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); or
>
> \(b\) Has a gross vehicle weight rating of 11,794 or more kilograms
> (26,001 pounds or more); or

\(c\) Is designed to transport 16 or more passengers, including the
driver; or

> \(d\) Is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous
> materials as defined in this section.

The proposed rule will apply to all entry level driver who intend to
drive in interstate commerce, and are subject to the commercial drivers
license requirements of part 383 of this subchapter, except for drivers
applying for a restricted CDL under section 383 (e) through (g) of this
subchapter. The only restriction that I see is the intrastate
restriction.

The NYS issued CDL's that our drivers receive are not restricted to
intrastate operation. We can drive our vehicles interstate. Therefore it
appears that this regulation would apply to all NYS for hire ambulette
drivers.

If this is incorrect, then I suggest that it be included in the final
rule as an example of a type of CDL unique to a state that is exempt
from the rule. This will be helpful to a large number of NYS operators
knowing that they will not be burdened by the requirements of the new
rule.

If the requirements do apply to these drivers, then we have a number of
problems with the proposed rule.

1.  The proposed rule is not evidence based. The agency has provided no
    studies or expert testimony that this method of training is superior
    to the training currently being do by existing training institutes
    or by companies large and small, 'in house" to meet their driver
    training needs. It is therefore arbitrary.

2.  The rule is based upon federal regulation requiring that Commercial
    Motor Vehicles are operated safely. The agency provides no evidence
    that the training programs operated as a result of these rules will
    produce safer drivers. On the contrary The Large Truck Crash
    Causation Study concluded that increase training is not correlated
    with a reduction in the number of accidents. The agency provides
    nothing to support the proposed rules purpose of improving safe
    operation of Commercial Motor Vehicles.

3.  The proposed rule ignores the fact that a person who now wants to or
    needs to become a CDL driver may have years of driving experience
    and an unblemished safe driving record in the same type of vehicle.
    He must start out at exactly the same place as the rookie driver,
    and proceed at the same pace. This ignores such issues as
    experience, maturity and attitude that cannot be taught in a
    classroom.

4.  The proposed rule will impose a huge financial burden on our small
    company if we need to upgrade our in house training programs to
    become accredited.

5.  If we chose not to make this large investment in upgrading our "in
    house " program, the burden of having to take a 90 hour course at a
    cost in excess of \$3,000 will virtually eliminate the flow of
    applicants to these low paying entry level positions. Our drivers
    start at \$8 / hour. This will create a shortage of capacity in our
    system. It will have the "unintended consequence" indirectly denying
    the wheelchair bound population access to medical care to the
    limitation of capacity.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment

Walter L. Reisner

Chief Operating Officer