A much-needed highway funding bill has been introduced in the House that would give the DOT a budget for the next 6 years and implement changes in transportation, including removing carrier CSA scores from public view and allowing CMV drivers under the age of 21 to participate in a pilot program.
The bill, H.R. 3763 would give the DOT $325 billion over the next 6 years – an amount that matches current levels of funding (while adjusting for inflation). Since that still leaves transportation running a $15 billion annual deficit, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says it isn’t nearly enough. According to Foxx, a $400 billion investment over the next 6 years would be “the absolute minimum level of investment” that would be needed to keep the situation from getting any worse.
Introduced by a bipartisan coalition including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Bill Shuster, the bill also contains provisions that would make changes to the CSA system. If passed, the bill would require that the FMCSA remove all crash records, violation history, and CSA BASIC rankings from public view and require the DOT to create a “corrective action plan” that the FMCSA must follow in order to reinstate the program.
According to a House-sponsored review of the 558-page bill, it would also make numerous other changes, including the following:
- Requires the DOT to produce a study on allowing CDL holders ages 19.5 to 21 to operate CMVs across state lines
- Bans the use of funding for automated traffic enforcement Systems
- Makes data available on how states are following federal guidelines for automated red light and speed enforcement cameras
- Encourages states to adopt programs to increase driver awareness of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and how to operate safely around CMVs
- Requires changes to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program to improve fairness and transparency
Source: transportation, thehill, overdrive, dailysignal, hannibal
Unfortunately this bill will fail and the financing of our roadways will continue to deteriorate as they kick the can down the road with another CR. Political game playing is putting the nations drivers at risk.
As far as younger drivers go, I see no problem. We rely on 18-20 year olds to protect our nation with multi million dollar hardware why can’t we trust them to operate safely on the road. There must however be a strict training program in place and a wage structure that doesn’t penalize the whole industry by provding cheap drivers. Driver wages are abhorently low in some cases already. We need new blood. Many old timers started driving way before 18 and still driving.
Thats the problem, the training is horrendous. The accident rates of companies that train their own CDL students are 2-4 times worse than those who require a CDL before company training. For instance, CR England and CRST have several times the crash rate as Werner. The difference is that Werner hires from schools, and CR England and CRST have their own.
And the schools themselves arent training students well enough either.
Warners owns one of the worst driver training schools in the nation Road Masters
As a driver who came from a school when I started, the schools all they do is teach you the bare minimums to get your CDL. The schools assume that the companies will provide the rest of the knowledge through training. Which you throw hundreds of barely educated drivers into the, let’s say, SWIFT grinder, in which their training program is less than par, you’ll develop problems.
When I went to “truck driving school”, I was shocked to learn that in a mere 3 weeks, I’d be allowed to propel 80,000 lbs of equipment down the road! One week in the classroom & 2 weeks in the truck, which had 2 other students in it. Each of us drove approximately 2 hours per day, learning what we needed in order to pass our CDL tests. In fact, the instructor in the truck was the one who gave me my test. And then, I was allowed to drive 10 hours per day while my trainer slept. I was fortunate in that my trainer was my husband & I’d been on the truck with him as a rider for a year before getting my CDL, so I at least had a clue or 2 about what the job actually entailed. It’s no wonder there are so many poor truck drivers out there.
It helps if you can:
1.) drive stick
2.) read a map
3.) navigate a highway
Other students in my CDL class couldn’t do that coming in, and valuable seat time was lost waiting for them.
I was kinda dissapointed I passed my road test on my first try, my classmate failed and got another week of seat time while I spent a month filling out job apps.
By the time I got a job offer I was nervous as heck because I’d been out of a truck almost half as long as I’d been in one.
False… Werner just announced that it ones 2 of the biggest cdl training schools in the United states… and has owned both schools for several YEARS…
I am a driver trainer and while yes the schools give you the bare minimum of instruction to receive your cdl… most companies still have a training/finishing programs that are supposed to teach the student the real world job of driving…
Most trainers are in it for the miles and money and they are responsible for the low quality of new driver training than the schoold…
Ummmm…… because they aren’t getting endless weeks of 18-24 hrs days of boot camp training???? Maybe??? Have you SEEN and 18 yo lately???
Yeah they weed out the trouble makers, dont have that in trucking
Most of today’s kids haven’t been away from adult supervision by the time they’re 18. That’s why they need trigger warnings when they get to college. OTOH, they do have an almost excessive concern with safety.
Csa points not scores they are still unconstitutional. Makes police judge and jury. We as citizens of the USA are supposed to have our day in court before punishments are handed out. case and point if your in an accident and its not your fault you get points. My friend just lost his job because of points how can that be legal or constitutional he never had his fay in court. Oh six of his points were from accidents that were not his fault he didnt get tickets for them
you are half right. They are called points and they get applied to your license but the score applies to you as a driver . They cover your entire driving career from day one .
Let me correct you oh, so slightly!..
CSA points are separate from license points. License points are added to a drivers license only after CONFESSION or AJUDICATION of a traffic crime. Points are accrued from convicted traffic crimes in any class of vehicle and DO HAVE a expiration date once assessed.
CSA on the other hand is a completely separate system, points are assessed to your PCP for any WARNING, CHARGE, or CONVICTION of a traffic crime in a CMV, that is accompanied with a INSPECTION. CSA points are not attached to you for your life time and DO NOT cover your entire driving career! They have a 3 year time span before they completely expire, otherwise, there would only be a select few drivers with a license left.
Exactly!!!! The CSA points system needs to be challenged in the legal system as unconstitutional lack of due process and unusual punishment.
The states implementing drivers license points were challenged years ago and that is why there is annual points removal from a person’s license.
Case law is needed…., we need to get this crooked FMCSA held to accountability under our Constitution!!
It is sick how many times these crooked gov’t agencies have to be challenged because they don’t respect our nation’s primary laws!!
” I could get the same amount of enforcement and administration done for 2 &1/2 billion ! “
They will just make up the budget shortfall by having more saftey blitzes.
I went to a driving school in PA, and quite frankly was impressed with their safety program. Although I did feel that for the money, it should have been longer than 6 weeks. I do know some schools that get their students licenses in 3 weeks. I can’t see how they can teach anything about safety in that short time.
Me and my daughter went thru a sage school. 143hr. Course @ a local community college. They gave out the answers on the test so everyone got a 100. When it came to driving both of us trained together. The first time in the truck we both drove the tractor around the parking lot for twenty minutes ea. And then hooked up to a trailer and down the road we went, what a joke. When we went to work for rhoel boy were we unprepared. Made it thru a year before we gave it up. On last seven day run as a team got a whole 1700 miles. We could flip hamburgers and make more money, so we gave it up. Feel sorry for the otr drivers, low pay and away from the family, what abad combination.
Tim what you and your daughter experienced is almost exactly what happened to me.
I had attended a quick rush driving school, went out with a company that provided me trainers with little more experience than myself, and was sent out to navigate the 48 states on my own.
It was by the will of God I survived.
I was blessed in that there were other drivers in the field willing to help you out back then, but not anymore.
I’ve been driving over 25 years now, but if I had it to do over I wouldn’t.
Let’s all pray someone figures out that short term solutions are often long term failures.
Funding for FMCSA needs to be lowered DRAMATICALLY !! Time to stop funding these UNCONSTITUTIONAL GOONS !!
Call Bill Shuster and show your support for his efforts !!
Cvsa what a joke tell me how fair it is when drivers don’t get inspected at all and some drivers get inspected over ten times .. I know some drivers which have not been inspected for over ten years !! So my concern is how can you have program out there that’s not fair , it should be all and every driver should be inspected at least once to have stats on every driver what a joke the system is