Mask Mandate extended for team drivers to January 18, 2022

The Centers for Disease Control and the Transportation Security Administration have extended a mandate that requires persons to wear a mask over their mouth and nose “when traveling on conveyances into and within the United States” and also at “transportation hubs” as defined in the order.

The mask mandate is primarily aimed at passenger transportation by airplane and bus. The CDC order exempts “commercial motor vehicles or trucks as those terms are defined in 49 CFR 390.5, if the driver is the sole occupant of the vehicle or truck.”  This appears to mean that team drivers, or drivers and any other passengers, must wear masks over their mouth and nose whenever they are in the vehicle together.  But FMCSA has issued guidance stating, “Team drivers are not required to wear a mask in the cab of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) if the vehicle occupants are individuals who all live in the same household and are the only persons in the vehicle. The CDC recently issued guidance expanding the exemption for solo drivers to include driving teams from the same household.”

The TSA is supposed to enforce this federal requirement as a security measure.  The TSA order has a similar exemption for solo CMV drivers. All drivers remain subject to applicable state and/or local mask mandates as well.