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Thread: Well, they want us to quit driving...

  1. #1
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    Default Well, they want us to quit driving...

    This might do it...

    DETROIT -- The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program.

    Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old, but an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease supply chain backlogs would let 18-to-20-year-old truckers drive outside their home states.

    The pilot program, detailed Thursday in a proposed regulation from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, would screen the teens, barring any with driving-while-impaired violations or traffic tickets for causing a crash.

    But safety advocates say the program runs counter to data showing that younger drivers get in more crashes than older ones. They say it's unwise to let teenage drivers be responsible for rigs that can weigh 80,000 pounds and cause catastrophic damage when they hit lighter vehicles.

    The apprenticeship pilot program was required by Congress as part of the infrastructure bill signed into law Nov. 15. It requires the FMCSA, which is part of the Transportation Department, to start the program within 60 days.

    The American Trucking Associations, a large industry trade group, supports the measure as a way to help with a shortage of drivers. The group estimates that the nation is running over 80,000 drivers short of the number it needs, as demand to move freight reaches historic highs.

    Under the apprenticeship, younger drivers can cross state lines during 120-hour and 280-hour probationary periods, as long as an experienced driver is in the passenger seat. Trucks used in the program have to have an electronic braking crash mitigation system, a forward facing video camera, and their speeds must be limited to 65 mph.

    After probation, they can drive on their own, but companies have to monitor their performance until they are 21. No more than 3,000 apprentices can take part in the training at any given time.

    The FMCSA must reach out to carriers with excellent safety records to take part in the program, according to the Transportation Department.

    The program will run for up to three years, and the motor carrier agency has to turn in a report to Congress analyzing the safety record of the teen drivers and making a recommendation on whether the younger drivers are as safe as those 21 or older. Congress could expand the program with new laws.

    The test is part of a broader set of measures from the Biden administration to deal with the trucker shortage and improve working conditions for truck drivers.

    In a statement, Nick Geale, vice president of workforce safety for the trucking associations, noted 49 states and Washington, D.C., already allow drivers under 21 to drive semis, but they can't pick up a load just across a state line.

    "This program creates a rigorous safety training program, requiring an additional 400 hours of advanced safety training, in which participants are evaluated against specific performance benchmarks," Geale said. The program will ensure that the industry has enough drivers to meet growing freight demands, he said.

    But Peter Kurdock, general counsel for Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety, said federal data shows that younger drivers have far higher crash rates than older ones. "This is no surprise to any American who drives a vehicle," he said.

    Putting them behind the wheel of trucks that can weigh up to 40 tons when loaded increases the possibility of mass casualty crashes, he said.

    Kurdock said the trucking industry has wanted younger drivers for years and used supply chain issues to get it into the infrastructure bill. He fears the industry will use skewed data from the program to push for teenage truckers nationwide.

    https://abc7.com/teens-drive-big-rig...ucks/11483898/

  2. #2
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    How about the federal government try this. QUIT paying capable people to sit at home and suck on the feds tit. There are plenty of available drivers out there to fill the jobs but too many are sitting at home making a comfortable living by walking to the mailbox.

  3. #3
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    I'd trust an 18yr old male over a female at any age.

  4. #4
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    What's better than texting and driving? Texting and driving in a 60000 pound rig
    Last edited by everlast; 01-20-2022 at 07:00 PM.
    “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
    -Samuel Adams

  5. #5
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    Why not let them pick up across state lines?

    I don’t see this as a fix to the shortage.
    OTR freight prices are way up but not much of that trickles down to company drivers.

  6. #6
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    I imagine that 18 to 21 year olds drive military equipment for uncle Sam.

  7. #7
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    Why does a state like make a difference. If they can already drive instate (that’s my understanding), I don’t see where a state line should matter.

  8. #8
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    18-21 year old kids drive nuclear submarines, should be able to handle a truck..............
    “Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.” Lord Byron

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    I'd trust an 18yr old male over a female at any age.
    What about an 18 year old female? Or is it just a non issue because they crash before they start moving?
    Seeing these soulless vanilla ice lookin Yankees on a bassboat is worse than watching a woman get her implants taken out. It's just wrong. Get back in your Lund and go back to infisherman.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by everlast View Post
    What's better than texting and driving? Texting and driving in a 60000 pound rig
    80000lb*

    I don’t know of many companies that will hire 18 year olds for intrastate.. maybe a local beverage company but I didn’t know any when I worked in that industry. I understand they are trying to fill the “lack of truck drivers” but maybe they should stop with the bullshit laws that keeps us from doing our job.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    I'd trust an 18yr old male over a female at any age.
    Too much truth here!

  12. #12
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    With fuel prices climbing like they are I’m not sure what age has to do with the ability to drive! I just filled up at Costco today and it took $196 to fill my F-350. Imagine what that tractor trailer costs to fill up those big saddle tanks!!
    Living in Moncks Corner but looking forward to moving back to the West Coast in 2020 where there are more ducks and less duck hunters!! LOL

  13. #13
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    And I love females. Bless their hearts.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gregory View Post
    And I love females. Bless their hearts.
    You damn right. #FJB and the agenda we in trouble. I mean alot of trouble.
    Gettin old is for pussies! AND MY NEW TRUE people say like Capt. Tom >>>>>>>>>/
    "Wow, often imitated but never duplicated. No one can do it like the master. My hat is off to you DRDUCK!"

  15. #15
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    Funny how market driven insurance rates favor 18 -25 yo females over males all day long.

  16. #16
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    Both of my parents drove a school bus while they were in high school with no issues.

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