CVSA adding English Language Proficiency to Out of Service Criteria

I don't feel like it has gotten better or worse. I think the industry has changed some, but I don't really know about going downhill. I don't know if so much has changed to sway me to think it's gone good or bad significantly.

 

They'll just put in their GPS.

 

Fair enough. I feel there’s a higher number of ignorant people of all races in the industry now compared to how things used to be. The thing about removing English proficiency from the OOS criteria in 2016 meant that the companies now longer had any motivation to make sure their drivers could do the job. So we end up with people who can’t even communicate with anyone in public. They can’t read advisory signs, etc. Now putting it back on the OOS criteria list it’s going make the “driving schools” think twice before pencil whipping a CDL course because hopefully it will make carriers think twice about hiring someone with a fraudulent license. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. If things don’t change then we will know it’s not a big deal. However if things do change for the better then we all will be better for it.

 

To me the very beginning of a trucking career is where all the problems begin. Training isn't very good. I went out with a trainer for 1 month in 2010 when I got started, and I'm man enough to admit, looking back, that I didn't have enough time in training. 1 week, we were broke down at the Freightliner. I didn't have as much practice backing, or trip planning. Now that I'm seasoned, I can see mistakes I've made in training much more clearly. It's so many drivers that get pushed through the 3 week school, and the month long training, and they haven't driven mountains, or in snow, or any other adverse condition. I'm with you, though....if they enforce this and nothing changes, then they will see that they're priorities concerning the industry were misguided, and I somewhat think they are, but only time will tell.

 

Just a question but how do they gain proper training without understanding English

 

Agree on the problems with training and how easy it is to obtain a license. Let’s say you own a trucking company and you need drivers. Would you be so quick to hire someone who can’t communicate knowing there’s a chance your truck could be sitting at a scale until someone else shows up to drive it away?

 

Knowing how things are now, that'd be foolish. These laws are something I can't change, so I'd have to operate under that structure. To be fair though, foreigners most likely wouldn't be trying to get a job with a company I owned. They kind of seem to stay in their own world.

 

“Staying in their own world” can still find them placed out of service, same as how it was prior to 2016. It’s risk vs reward. Foreign labor, be it from the owner’s home country or wherever, either paying them a lower wage or having logs that can be edited by offshore tech support, to increase the owners profit. It’s a no brainer when there’s zero risk of anything happening. Add some risk back into it and maybe they won’t be so quick to do it. That doesn’t even take into account the aspect of how they were getting their CDL in the first place. I’m sure a lot of it was “staying in their own world” as you put it. It’s all tied together.

 

At this point it's all up to the DOT to come through, and I really don't have much faith in them. They preach safety this and safety that, chaffed air line, safety issue, low tire, safety issue, light out, safety issue, can't read or speak a lick of English? have a nice day. They were told to look the other way putting you, me, our families, even their families at risk, for having to drive on the same roads as these people. Where was "safety" then? Was Obama going to singlehandedly discipline an officer if he did the right thing? It's all one big joke, and joke of an industry at this point.