18-20 year olds possibly driving

"The American Trucking Associations, an industry group, has said the sector is some 80,000 drivers short of the labor force needed to keep goods moving freely this year. The driver population is aging, and women account for about 8% of all truck drivers, the group said.

The infrastructure bill included a provision to set up a pilot program allowing some 18- to 20-year-olds to drive big rigs across state lines, a job now limited to drivers 21 and older. Highway-safety advocates say that could make roads more dangerous."

That was an excerpt from a recent newspaper Wall Street Journal article.

If we have a bunch of 18, 19, and 20 year olds driving the interstates isn't that going to cause even more problems and make it harder for experienced drivers to make a living?

And then how much are they going to be paying these 18 yr olds just out of high school? They have limited experience driving a car much less a rig.

Am I the only one that sees a problem here?

 

IMO it is disgusting and people are going to die as a result of this bad idea.

 

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Good luck getting them in a truck in the first place.

 

Blah blah blah.

Just jealousy because the new generation can outwork all the old farts.

 

The self insured mega's will hire them. They are the ones pushing to allow them to drive.

 

Well they are going to need someone to fill the pipeline since after feb 7 our new immigrant drivers will no longer be getting a license test in their native language and then buy a clapped out Columbia, get numbers and go trailer trucking.
We shall see if jr can outwork anything.

 

Most people saying putting 18-20 in CDL in Interstate will solve all our problems. Those people probably never driven, and have no idea the amount of scrutiny a Driver is subjected to. Physicals, drug testing,driver facing cams,truck sensors, you followed too close come into the office and explain yourself to some douche nozzle. Then there are the we sue truckers billboards, and DOT inspections.

I mean most people that young won’t be able to handle it all. That and trying not to crash.

 

I’ve yet to hear a good argument when people say there will be chaos and mayhem. You can get your CDL and drive intrastate at 18 but apparently the world ends when an 18 year old drives across an imaginary line on the ground. An 18 year old from Texas can drive from El Paso to Texarkana but can’t cross over the line into AR. Where’s the logic in that?

 

The guy that caused the big crash in Colorado was early 20s I believe on his first solo mountain run.

 

I was driving intrastate at 18 and tend to agree with you. I do have reservations about the number of 18 yo kids pushed through by the megas in the near future though. I dont think every 18 year old that doesnt know what else to so he jumps in a 3 wk class is going to be a good driver.

 

Could agree more. I got my CDL the day I turned 18. Could drive across iowa but not 2 miles across the SD boarder or 20 some to NE or MN.

And not much different than hiring a 30 yr old that has no experience driving anywhere