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About nine years ago, California-based longhaul truck driver Richard Hall was in for a big surprise when he got his first Department of Transportation medical exam.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Feb. 21 formally announced the immediate end of its exemption process for the medical certification of insulin-dependent truck and bus drivers.

After years in limbo, a final rule became effective in November allowing medical examiners — in consultation with a truck driver’s treating clinician — to decide whether an insulin-treated diabetic driver is qualified to get behind the wheel.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Health education specialist Kay Pfeiffer compares diabetic professional truck drivers who are not testing their blood sugar with “driving at night without headlights — and you’re going to crash.”

The number of insulin-dependent diabetic interstate truck and bus drivers requesting exemptions to stay behind the wheel is on the rise, but the current approval process is time-consuming and medical guidelines can be vague, trucking and diabetes groups said.

The Federal Motor Carriers Administration has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking under which truck drivers with controlled diabetes would no longer have to apply for medical exemptions.