Depending on who you ask, the government has been working on an entry-level driver training rule since the 1980s, since 2007, since 2012, or since 2015. Now, finally, the rule has gone into effect… kind of.
Though it was initially supposed to go into effect on February 6th, 2017, the start date was postponed due to President Trump’s regulation freeze upon entering office. It was pushed to March 21st, March 22nd, and then finally to June 5th. June 5th has come and gone with no further postponement of the rule, so it is officially in effect. But the compliance date isn’t until February 7th, 2020.
The final rule makes two major changes to CDL applicant requirements. Drivers must be trained by an FMCSA-approved trainer, and drivers must pass a written exam as well as demonstrating proficiency on both a driving range and public roads.
Some new drivers are pushed through so-called ‘CDL mills’ with as little training as possible, so the FMCSA has decided to regulate who is allowed to train new drivers. According to the FMCSA, “many entities currently providing entry-level driver training… will be eligible to provide training that complies with the new requirements.” And while “many” does not equal “all,” the exact criteria the FMCSA will use to determine who is capable of properly training new drivers hasn’t yet been released.
In another attempt to increase new driver proficiency, the FMCSA decided to require drivers to pass a skills test both in a driving range and on a public road. This is to attempt to ensure that drivers can handle themselves in real-world situations. But some critics worry that a short drive even on a public road doesn’t do much to prove a driver can handle themselves on long hauls.
Despite including a minimum hourly behind-the-wheel training requirement in earlier drafts of the rule, the FMCSA removed that provision from the final rule. Many large carriers and the American Trucking Association applauded the move, saying that removing the requirement will make it easier to hire new drivers to fend off the driver shortage.
Defending the move, the FMCSA said that there was a “lack of data directly linking training to improvements in safety outcomes.” They then claimed that even if they had kept in the 30 hour behind-the-wheel requirement, crash frequency for new drivers would only drop by about 3.6%.
Source: gobytrucknews, truckinginfo, overdrive, FMCSA, FMCSA, ccj, trucks, truckersreport, truckersreport
Robert says
The critics are right. Anybody can drive for 30 minutes and make it through. Anybody can be taught how to shift and back the truck good enough to pass. The problem is that the current training is very lacking. The team training is good it teaches the new driver how to handle the truck and haul actual loads. Plus they are able to learn the paperwork and how the company they are working for does business. It does not teach how to back in real world situations. I can speak from experience. I got my CDL last September after only a week on the road with an instructor. Then I went out with another trainer for 30,000 miles. The first 3 weeks we did cross country runs back and forth. There wasn’t many opportunites to backup not even in truck stops as it was a team truck which means the wheels were spinning all the time except for mandatory 30 and fueling. In my opinion this is a huge problem. I had to learn how to back the truck mostly by myself because the trainer can only teach so much in the short time that they have. I think there needs to be more changes and the training time should be a lot longer. I really hope the government takes a good long hard look at this and makes wholesale changes.
Bago says
I think you are confusing and conflating issues here. CDL schools train you to get a CDL, not to drive OTR.
Robert says
They are talking about companies that have their own training program.
Prime, Swift, CR England, Crete and several others that I can’t think of right now. I am basing some of what I said on my own experience because I got my CDL with Prime. On the flip side of the coin my father got his CDL from Northeast career schools in Londonderry NH. They don’t let any student test out for their CDL unless they are profficient in all areas as required by the school. I chose the route I did because it cost me 100 bucks to sit in the orientation and 1 year comittment over the road. There is a huge difference between private school and companies with a CDL training program. The CDL mills they are referring to is the training companies not private schools.
Ray says
Actually under current laws training is dependent on what state you live in. Each state has its own rules/laws about driving and getting a CDL or regular license. You can go to a different state than your own and get a CDL under that states rules/law. I know this because my home state requires attending a state certified school, do so many hours in the classroom, so many hours in the truck as well as so many hours in the yard. Before I went to the school here in my home state, CR England was going to ship me out to Utah put me up in a hotel and run me through there training program, thats Utah state law/rules. You use to be able to go get a regular license in another state if you lost yours in your own state, people use to go to Virginia to get a new license if they got a DUI or other type of conviction from North Carolina, you cant do that any more. I see the same thing coming for CDLs before long, a standardized system for obtaining.
Alex says
That trainer needs to be trained to be a trainer. main thing he needs to teach Mentality of a professional driver. Obviously he didn’t know or just didn’t care. Currently CR England and others running ads hiring “Driver Trainers” promising 91 K a year wages. yeas, miles + miles. But the requirement is- 6 months experience. Are those guys with 6 months experience qualified to be trainers? You tell me
Driver says
So what do the desk riders at the fmcsa say about those innocent unknowing, undeserving people most probably killed by an inexperienced driver in that 3.6% of crashes ? These rulemakers need get out of their chairs, and out on the road a bit and see what we are already dealing with before making any more idiotic rulings.
Jim says
It’s the decision making is where these new driver’s screw up.Some if not most aren’t even mature enough to make a good decision. Driving down the highway you make split second decision at every turn. My opinion it should be like a college associate degree.Two years and turn them loose.
Bago says
That’s the critical issue: Judgment, and calmness in tight situations.
Billy D.. says
TWO years with a lead driver of at least 5 years all weather experience. After graduation from an accredited CDL SCHOOL. As far as the company argument about qualified and experienced drivers, they have no argument. Their newest trick is forming a Brokerage, under the new rules, so they can legally skim 15 to 25% off of their own freight. Why do you ask ? So they can then report that they pay their drivers a percentage or the value of a percentage of the freight in wages and can NOT afford any raises
Jacob says
I’m on the fence on this issue.
On one hand, yes an apprenticeship longer than 4 to 6 weeks before turning them loose would be beneficial but at the same time not.
The problem lies within trucking companies. You can’t expect people to make that limited of an income for that long. People just won’t do it and companies(most) won’t invest that much money for that long.
To mitigate that, the company would have to require 4 to 6 weeks then convert them to a team driver position and a lot of drivers don’t want to do that either. So turn over stays the same or gets higher.
Lastly, you can teach someone to negotiate turns properly, back the truck, lane control, etc… but what you can’t really teach someone is the mentality to be safe.
So I think the real answer is better screening for new drivers and if a driver shows signs of apathy or complacency towards safety consciousness, then trainers should be given more say in upgrading them or suggesting termination before they become a problem.
OTR returner says
Yep, put em in a truck for a week or so and see what changes they decide to make. But then some would say its to crazy out there and push for more regulations that would hurt the industry. Depending on which company they went with. I personally have been trained and retrained cause i spent several years out of the country. The retraining I had was a joke, I go the same as the new drivers who had never worked. It was okay for me just a refresher mainly on the new laws and things that had come out. For someone with no experience not good. I remember we did about 4 backs a day to learn docking. Not enough for many who are just starting. When I started i think I did about 10 a day for a week.
Michael Charette says
I used to teach at a tractor trailer school and a lot of what is happening now has to do with the people the sign up a .s students . I had students that I actually had to teach how to shift a manual tranny , I have had them that couldn’t understand English and its hard to communicate with them I’ll let you know . I had one that I was taking to the D.M.V. for his 5th road test and he asked me which way he should go.I told him to use his own judgement and he started to go down this one way street. Needless to say he failed,AGAIN. The thing is this,we have to have a more educated driver pool . I know that this is a hard suggestion but its what we need . The students need to be schooled more as to what is expected of them and trained in like manner . Then they should be trained on the driving session and it should be ONE STUDENT and ONE INSTRUCTOR for that 30 hrs behind the wheel . 10 hrs day 10 hrs mid-day and 10 hrs night . That way they can get accustomed to the time change and the traffic at the different levels .
Speedy121 says
There is a benefit to having more than one driving instructor;
Seeing other driver’s styles, human perspective – communication – and some students are freaked out by some.
Hard to learn if the instructions are let me show you or put it another way, some people learn by show me then I try it, or talk me thru it as I do the steps.
When I was in the Navy, I could read the manual and then do.
I discovered that is Not the way most People work.
I had to teach some by showing – then watching them, Others – I just talk them through.
And being in the Navy, I always had the Manual handy to prove my point. My students didn’t always know or think they were learning and I sometimes needed to taylor my teaching style to the students learning style. In the end, QA had to rewrite the tests because my students knew the manual And the Equipment.
Donavon says
You should be the the guy verifying the instructors
Billy D.. says
And what was your MOS in the NAVY ?
Randall S North says
When a company hires a school grad, they know he’s green and their insurance will insist on more training. This will vary from company to company, and driver to driver. I think it’s a good call to let the carriers decide how much behind the wheel training a new hire needs. If a come sends a green horn over any mountain without a trainer, they get what they deserve, a wrecked truck, a pile of law suits and hopefully no serious injuries.
Mike says
Why do they even bother
Debbie says
If it was not for my husband i would not of learned anything! The school i went to did not care. They were just pushing people through. They had to have everyone at DMV on a certain day. You had to take the test if you failed they treated you like crap. I was so sick from being out in the weather i couldn’t think straight. They took us out driving but if you couldn’t do it they always had the ones that knew what they were doing drive..
Jim zimmerman says
A longer CDL training course would benifit the trainee the school and public. Your pool of new drivers would be sure to shrink far below what it is now. The reason being, the cost of tuition. When i attended a CDL training school it cost $3500.00 and others were $5000.00 or better for a 5 week course. Your talking about double or triple the time in a training school, which would double or triple the cost. The part that would drop the number of people attending is the fact that you cant get a student loan or grant to attend these schools, its all out of pocket. Even if a company you go to work for reimburses you for the tuition you have to have it up front. I lived on ramen noodles, peanut butter sandwitches, and mac and cheese to save up for a five week course
John says
What two regulations are going to disappear. That is what is to happen right?
Pat says
Six weeks of truck driver school is good, but not for experience. Knowing the truck and knowing what other drivers are doing and what to expect comes with years of experience, and that is after years of not grinding gears.
Tom says
Got my CDL through one of the training company’s. 13 weeks total- I only backed 3 times (other than 1 day on the pad for test training). The 3 times I backed I wasn’t allowed to watch the trailer- I had to keep eyes on front watching the trainer point which way to turn the wheel. Got yelled at for 20 minutes because I looked in the mirror. I had to learn on my own after I got my truck (amazing- the company gave me a new truck with 42 miles on it). To this day I still end up doing an extra pull-up or 2.
Janet Ciriello says
Well in California it is not required that you go to a driving school unless you will be driving a bus. So I’m going to study for the test, get my permit, and then my fiancé is going to teach me to drive. He used to train drivers at CR England, he’s been a a driver for years. Sooo I think Im getting the best deal here bc he will continue to train me as I drive with him as a team when we buy our truck in a month.
Maybe that’s the answer for everyone, require a team approach for 6 months an internship. Benefits are the product gets delivered in a timely fashion and the experienc d driver is there to coach.
Just a thought!
J
john says
Gosh, I don’t know. I started out diving trucks on the farm when I was about 12. Spotting/docking trailers and bobtails when I was 13, Was running Maine to Fl. when I was 14. My first road tractor was a 1959 GMC coe with a screaming jimmy and an 5 & 2. I bought a new KW in 1972, owner operator. I’ve owned several since then. And a whole fleet of trailers. Been driving trucks off on on for about 52 yrs.. Nobody told me I was going to have to go to truck driving school.
The biggest problem today is immaturity. That’s right, you won’t appreciate/believe it. But it’s true. I haven’t seen a 14 YO in this day and age that is as mature as most were 50-60 yrs. ago. I’ve hired and employed truck driving school drivers. And after I gave them a road test and witnessed their docking skills suggested most go get their money back. It’s a whole different world out there today. I’ve got a question for you guys. Can anyone tell me the support business that you never see any more for truckers. You saw these predominantly up and down the East & West coast. But they were spread out all over the USA.
Gentry Newsom says
I’ve been through school and driving since 1990 with 10 of those yrs driving a desk. I had to take a refresher at a Gold Co. the (dude) trainer I had to indure 27days otr with should of been on a bicycle w/training wheels ! He allways mapped by his gps it would take us thru most surface st. every city. Also he could not shift a standard 10.
This place has gone to the wolves since when I started. Their in it for the rape & pilage..driver loans & goverment grants plus cheap driver labor. They dont do anything but go to the load board and click the load your closest to.
A buncha phoney’s but its getting better for me. I’ve been back 3yrs Hang in there Vet.Truckers
Gent..silver bullet band