So this is how so many unqualified drivers...

It’s zero hedge, lol

Fact of the matter is.
Congress mandates a certain amount of visas every year..60-70kish. Very few actually make their way to the trucking sector.

Now the yapping has started about the previous prez handling out an additional 65kish visas. Again very few will actually make it to the trucking sector. Another inconvenient fact is the extra visas were for 2025 disbursement..yah, 2025.

Landline did an article on the issue and did a great job explaining it.

 

Bulgarian blog, low cred, high pseudo science, conspiracy theorists.

If this is where you get your information from then, lol

 

Was drunk my guess

Probably thinks actions in a personal vehicle don’t spill over onto his CDL.

 

it doesn’t have anything to do with race. It doesn’t have anything to do with immigration status… What it does have to do with is the safety of the motoring public these people a lot of them cannot read right or comprehend English. They can’t read any highway signage they’re using translating devices to communicate with shippers and receivers and tow truck operators And law-enforcement… I have nearly been hit by two of them in the last couple of weeks alone. One of them I have on video. The other one intentionally tried to run me off the road in Iowa… This crap has got to cease… Nobody has problem with people wanting to come over and work here and better their lives, but this problem is getting out of control and for those folks who want to continue to use the race and the immigration narrative to deflect from the real issue at hand is really pathetic… do you want these folks driving around your family on the highway? I’m from a lot of people I’ve been communicating with on social media about this issue. A lot of them are starting to get the message about what the real truth is.

 

My "unique perspective" is this thread should have been relegated to the sandbox.

You posted a link to a site whose editors "report" under the user name "Tyler Durden". A site that currently is reporting stock futures "go wild", when in reality they're currently doing the opposite.



If you want to point the blame at unqualified drivers, then the Trump #45 Administration is to blame. From your source "ATU has found that truck-involved incidents and fatalities have been on a steady rise since 2016". Trump instituted ELDT which is little more than a cash grab. This is after delaying an Obama era rule. That rule would have been worthless, but it would still have been better than ELDT. If ELDT was worth anything, it wouldn't matter what incentives the Biden administration put into place - unqualified drivers wouldn't be able to obtain a CDL.

A more nuanced take would be that "Industry" is manipulating both parties to change government regulations to boost profits at the expense of public safety. The idea of a CDL was created under Reagan. Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II all kicked the can down the road on establishing training standards. Obama made a half hearted attempt at both raising standards CDL standards, delayed a Bush II agreement to allow Mexican drivers past the border, and instituted Bush II's CSA (despite it's flaws).

If anyone one entity is to blame for the unqualified drivers on the road it's the "regulations are killing business" Republicans. People like Chris Lofgren, who stated "training is an expense that doesn't create revenue", fired safety critters for high student wash out rates, and tried to create a pipeline of temporary drivers from Kenya and South Africa. Chris Lofgren is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which (along with the ATA) supported "Biden handing out CDLs like candy".

A couple of weeks ago I posted:

Way back in 1996, FHWA found that truck driver training was inadequate . 8 years later, the courts mandated that FMCSA do something. FMCSA said "carriers will be responsible". Court responded "I said fix it, not pawn off your responsibility". 2007 FMCSA publishes a proposed rule, and EVERYONE threw their poop every where until FMCSA withdrew it in 2013 and started from scratch this time with "stake holder help". 5 years later, ELDT starting in 2019 is announced. In 2019 it's delayed until 2021. Four years later, the only impact I can see is that it's increased the cost of CDL training without actually increasing instruction.

This is why we see inadequate skills wreaking havoc. "Safety groups" make demands that are at best inane and most often counter productive while the various Industry associations resist any attempt to bring meaningful regulation into play. The megas design their training programs around liability avoidance and cost minimization, not best instructional practices. Small companies that hire inexperienced drivers tend to be '1099 share croppers'.

If we want to stop incompetent drivers from getting on the road, we need actual testing.

• For the written test -
  • no multiple guess on the written test, make the applicant write full sentences;
  • give the applicant a log grid and make them compute the hours available;
  • make the applicant do a trip plan including where they intend to overnight;
  • give the applicant scale tickets and make them describe how to get legal.
• Drop the classroom hours requirement and replace it with a mileage requirement 1,000 miles behind the wheel, 80% 'in town' -verified through log books.
• For the Vehicle Inspection -
  • no "memory aid" for the pre-trip test;
  • have 8 tires in a rack and make the applicant identify if the tire is legal, and if not, why;
  • have the ability to turn individual lights off on the test vehicle to see if the applicant is actually looking at the lights;
  • must both couple and uncouple (it blows my mind how many guys have a cdl and have never coupled/uncoupled until they got to us).
• For road tests -
  • all road tests will be done with a sleeper truck and a 53' trailer with the tandems at the furthers KPRA setting legal for the state (preferably a spread axle);
  • drop the failure threshold from 25 to 10 points;
  • increase the length of the drive (preferably 20 minute drive, do a back and repeat);
  • hitting a curb is an auto fail;
  • after the initial road skills are tested the applicant will be given a route back to the yard and must follow it without assistance.
• Backing -
  • unlimited pull ups, limited time;
  • sight side alley dock gets a 10 foot wide spot with 65 feet in front of the hole;
  • blind side alley dock gets a 12 foot wide spot with 70 feet in front;
  • sight side angle 11 foot wide spot, 50 feet in front;
  • each maneuver must be done 3 times.
• You want a doubles/triples endorsement? Build a set and take a road test.
• You want a tanker endorsement? Better be able to show you can climb on the tank, engage a pto, hook hoses, place spill protection, pump off, air off, etc.
• Let's add a flatbed endorsement where an applicant has to secure bricks/boards, shotgun coils, suicide coils, and a piece of equipment.

But none of that will happen because it's too expensive. The testing itself would be onerous because it would be an all day affair. The instruction needed to pass the test would bankrupt most cdl mills. Beyond that, it would drop the number of new cdl holders far below the industry turnover rate which would create an actual driver shortage in short order.
​

If you take a deep dive into my posting history, I've said much the same thing for the last 12 years. I've also posted extensively about the number of cdl holders who have come onto my truck that can't communicate in English and my battles with middle management who care more about their metrics than safety and service. A couple of years ago I was asked to take a 'fully qualified driver' for a week to 'polish up his skills'. Dude had 6 months on the road solo, albeit with multiple incidents - none of which were properly written up because none of the Driver Managers/Safety Critters wanted to damage their metrics. The DM and the Regional Safety Critter wanted the guy gone before I took him, but because he'd transferred into the account and the previous DM/Safety Critter didn't write things up properly we couldn't just fire him. On Wednesday I said "dude can't do the job" and was asked to take him for another week - by the Regional Manager. It took me emailing the VP for Safety and Training directly to get the guy fired. All because metrics trumped common sense.

If you want to actually improve driver quality - hold employers criminally liable for the actions of their employees. IE every ticket a driver gets goes on his CEO's and DM's personal driver aspect. If the driver does something that makes them eligible for jail time - the CEO and DM are in the dock next to them. Better yet, revoke the CDL of any driver who gets fired. Make them test again before getting another job. Even better - tie the DMV employee's testing credentials to the PSP of drivers they pass. But none of that's going to happen, because "reasons", aka "money".

As a side note, in 14 years of training I've been named in 3 wrongful termination lawsuits - all by white cis males, all dismissed with prejudice.

A note for the mods who are about to hit me for making a thread political - I reported the first post as political a couple of days ago and didn't respond until the OP tagged me.

 

You want everything moved that doesn’t agree with your point of view

 

I invite any and all to read these two articles from Landline.

Department of Homeland Security doubles available H-2B visas


https://landline.media/few-h-2b-visas-for-foreign-workers-are-given-to-truck-drivers-government-data-reveals/

 

Just the RW kook bs

 

What you seem to have a hard time comprehending is many of these people cannot read write and speak fluent enough English to even be able to communicate with anybody they have no business driving a commercial motor vehicle… They are a hazard on the highway

 

On the contrary, I'm all for reasoned debate on the open forum.

However I get tired of getting blamed for making a thread political when I'm the second man in. I added the last line to avoid getting a knee jerk 'time out'.