27 CAR § 51-104. Requirements for third-party testers

(a) In order to receive and maintain a third-party tester certification, a third-party tester must meet all of the following conditions: (1) Make application to and enter into agreement with the Division of Arkansas State Police, as described in 27 CAR § 51-106(b); (2)(A) Continuously maintain a place of business, located within the State of Arkansas, at which third-party skills tests can be administered and containing at least one (1) permanent, regularly occupied structure in which administrative and/or operational business is conducted. (B) This cannot be a residence; (3) The business location shall: (A) Be accessible by public telephone; and (B) Have an established, permanent mailing address including a street address or route; (4) Ensure that its place of business: (A) Is safe; and (B) Meets all requirements of state and federal law and local ordinances; (5) Have at least one (1) full-time employee certified by the division as a third-party examiner; (6)(A) Designate an individual who will be responsible for its third-party testing operation and inform the division of that designation. (B) This individual may also be the third-party examiner; (7) Allow the division and/or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or its representatives to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits of its operating facilities and records, as they relate to its third-party testing program, without prior notice; (8) Allow the division to conduct annual on-site inspections, evaluations, and audits of its: (A) Operations; (B) Facilities; and (C) Records; (9) Maintain at each approved third-party testing location, for at least three (3) years, copies of all records of every CDL skills test administered by the third-party tester pursuant to these requirements on the forms obtained from the division; (10) Transmit the records described in subdivision (a)(9) of this section, for the previous month’s testing, to the division by the tenth day of each month; (11)(A) Maintain at each approved third-party testing location a record of each third-party examiner employed by the third-party tester at that location. (B) Each record shall include all of the following: (i) A valid examiner certificate indicating the third-party examiner has met all division qualifications; (ii) A copy of the third-party examiner’s current driving record, which must be updated semi-annually; and (iii) Evidence that the third-party examiner is a full-time payroll employee of the third-party tester; (12) Retain all third-party examiner records for at least three (3) years; (13) Ensure that skills tests are conducted in accordance with: (A) All legal requirements; and (B) Test specifications and procedures prescribed by the division; (14) Provide written certification, using the CDL 1 form, to each driver­applicant taking the CDL skills tests administered by the third-party tester; (15) Prominently display at the testing site the third-party tester certificate and the examiner certificate of each third-party examiner employed at that location; (16) Require each third-party examiner employed by the third-party tester to attend all advanced training courses, workshops, seminars, and other instructional meetings as required by the division; and (17) Allow at least annually, division employees to take tests actually administered by the third-party tester as if the employee were an applicant, or allow the division to test a sample of drivers who were examined by the third-party tester to compare pass/fail results. (b) In addition to the requirements listed above, a third-party tester must meet one (1) or more of the following conditions: (1) Be a state agency or political subdivision which employs at least fifty (50) persons having a valid Arkansas CDL; (2) Be a public university, college, community college, junior college, or vocational/technical school offering a CDL program; (3) Be a school district which owns/leases at least thirty (30) school buses; (4) Be an educational cooperative or a recognized industry association of trucking/bus companies in Arkansas which represents at least fifty (50) commercial vehicle drivers with a valid Arkansas CDL; or (5) Be an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, or other legal business entity: (A) Which employs at least fifty (50) commercial vehicle drivers having a valid Arkansas CDL or is a private driver training facility licensed by the State Board of Private Career Education; and (B) If subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, maintain a current United States Department of Transportation safety rating of "satisfactory".