The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced earlier this week who would be on the advisory committee in charge of creating the requirements for classroom and practical entry-level driver training.
The eventual goal of the committee will be to come up with a comprehensive set of requirements that will ensure all new drivers are as well trained and as safe as they can be before heading out onto the road on their own.
Made up of 26 members from all over the industry, the committee contains unsurprising representatives like a director for the ATA, an associate administrator for the FMCSA, and heads multiple large carrier-oriented groups. In addition however, it appears that the FMCSA is interested in hearing from small fleets and OOs as well since the director of regulatory affairs from OOIDA, a representative from the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, and an independent OO, Bryan Spoon, are also on the committee.
You can find a full list of who is serving on the committee on the FMCSA website here.
The first meeting of the advisory committee is open to the public and is scheduled for 9:00am on February 26th and 27th at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.
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MovingForward says
Is there any chance the committee will include someone from CR England?
MovingForward says
The above-linked committee list certainly does raise some questions about how this process will get managed… but I’m personally glad to see that England does not have a seat on this committee. However, with Big Labor having three seats (AFL-CIO and Teamsters), we might want to be careful this committee doesn’t become another Political Action Committee.
Terry says
This thing is a political action committee before it ever gets started. The new regulations are right out of the Teamsters handbook and will get worse. This industry is going to be in serious trouble soon and it will be basically because of the government wanting to regulate every aspect of the industry. They are regulating a diverse industry they know nothing about. Think anyone one on this board has ever pulled an end dump trailer? A cattle truck? Oil service truck? Refer hauling swinging beef? A car hauler? A drilling rig? They have no clue what is involved in training each kind of driver which have totally different skill sets. Drivers of different type trucks are not interchangeable pieces. Big labor having their seats, and big government having their share of seats, don’t leave many chairs for working drivers, and companies who want to take care of their drivers.
Charlie says
I think,and always have said,that new drivers fresh out of school should be required to run team for at least one year.The first 45 days both the trainer and trainee be required to be in the cab during operating hours.
Jraulpilot says
Good positive comment………Thanks
Terry says
That might be a fine rule for the type of trucking you do, but in my case, I have five trucks, that normally travel within 100 mile radius. Usually within a 25 mile radius. How can a company with five trucks, hire someone new and put a supervisor in the truck with someone for a year? People I hire need to be a quick study, because there simply isn’t time nor money to put two people in a truck for long periods. The only way for many companies to be able to do this would require something I would never wish on ourselves. The government regulating freight again and setting rates high enough to allow for full time trainers for local haulers. Here is where this is headed and I’m going this way. Since I have been here a long time and know a lot of people who do exactly what I do, I can find people that I have worked with, or who have worked for me in the past, who I personally know don’t need to be trained, so I and other large companies are going to choose to hire no young drivers. Who ever attracts the experienced drivers, will force other companies to hire far more new drivers than others. Now these companies are going to want relief from the regs, or find ways to skirt them, like hiring unqualified trainers. Or God forbid, ask that the feds require all companies to hire rookie drivers, and I don’t think any of us want that. Every step they make is going to cause another problem they will need to fix. The industry need basic rules, we can understand, and after that the government needs to get the hell out.
Jraulpilot says
My question is ; How many of these individuals are class A CDL holders and how many of them have actual recent OTR experience and how many years..??
(There is a genuine concern in this question)
Subscriber’s Stat’s; Military Heavy equip. Operator/ X LEO / Airplane Pilot,S/E, M/E, Instrument rated. / Class A OTR ( 39 combined yrs ) **Again there is a genuine concern in my question) ***Any positive comments and Constructive Critics out there..?
Jraulpilot says
It takes a Special and Technically Knowledgeable individual to be a safe and proficient Instructor and to “Train and Produce” Drivers/Operators that will go and “Mingle” with other Drivers on our Interstate highways.
**Also 90 % of “Trainers” in major Companies have One year or Less of actual experience.
Gordon says
My buddy who owned his own company and never drove a truck before is now a driver and been on the road for 1 year. His company has offered him trainer status but he refuses each time and states his lack of experience as the reason to turn down the option.
Makes you wonder how many blind are leading the blind.
Terry says
Ive been a driver for forty years and an owner off and on for twenty five or so. I applied for a new DOT to start up a new company recently, and I am required to do a bunch of on line testing to see if I am qualified to hire drivers. I want to know what makes the numb nuts who is making sure I am qualified, think he is qualified to test me? I have one question. At any point in time, will there ever be enough rules and regulations for this industry? I mean really, after the next round of changes come up, can we say enough for the next ten years? Of course not, because the FMCSA has now a responsibility to itself, to justify it’s own existence, and needs ever greater budgets to make itself more relevant. They are now creating problems where none existed before, simply by making dumb rules.