• Knowing these definitions will help carriers navigate regulations.

Carrier: Also known as a “motor carrier,” this is a company that uses commercial motor vehicles while conducting business.

Certified Medical Examiner (CME): An individual certified by FMCSA and listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners in accordance with subpart D of this part.

Commercial driver’s license (CDL): A special classified license required for a driver that operates:

• A vehicle weighing, rated, or actual, 26,001 pounds or more;
• A combination of vehicles weighing or rated at 26,001 pounds or more, pulling a trailer with a rated or actual weight of 10,001 pounds or more;
• A vehicle required to be placarded for hazardous materials; or
• A passenger vehicle designed to seat 16 or more.

Commercial motor vehicle (390.5): Any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle—

(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; or

(2) Is designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or

(3) Is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or

(4) Is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.

Driver qualifications: A list of minimum standards that all commercial drivers must meet.

Driver qualification file: A record of documents a carrier must maintain to prove that the driver meets the qualification requirements.

Gross combination weight rating (GCWR): The greater of:

• The value specified by the manufacturer of the power unit, as shown on the certification label; or
• The sum of the GVWRs or the GVWs of the power unit and the towed unit(s), or any combination of those that produces the highest value.
• Note that the GCWR of the power unit will not be used to define a CMV when the power unit is not towing another vehicle.

Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR): The value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single motor vehicle.

Highway: Any road, street, or way (whether on public or private property) that is “open to public travel,” meaning the road or way is:

• Available (except during scheduled periods, extreme weather, or emergency conditions) and passable by four-wheel standard passenger cars; and
• Open to the general public for use without restrictive gates, prohibitive signs, or regulation other than restrictions based on size, weight, or class of registration.

Interstate commerce: Trade, traffic, or transportation in the United States—

(1) Between a place in a State and a place outside of such State (including a place outside of the United States);

(2) Between two places in a State through another State or a place outside of the United States; or

(3) Between two places in a State as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating or terminating outside the State or the United States.

Medical examiner’s certificate (medical card) MCSA-5876: A certificate issued to drivers by the examiner after they pass a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) physical exam.

Medical Examination Report (MER) MCSA-5875 (long form): The form on which the CME records the medical examination results and contains the driver’s health history.

Motor vehicle report (MVR): A driver’s driving record showing license type, license status, past traffic convictions, and past accidents, available through the driver licensing authority the driver is, or was, licensed in.

• This is referred to by some states or licensing authorities as a “driver’s abstract.”

Motor vehicle: Any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer (or any combination of those) propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used on the highways in the transportation of passengers or property, including the vehicle itself.

• This does not include vehicles operated on rails, nor trolley buses powered by an overhead electrical wire.

Safety performance history (SPH): A detailed check of a driver-applicant’s past DOT-regulated employment.