18-21 year old truck drivers

Dying's easy, living slightly less so. Driving a truck ain't hard. Driving for a living is.

 

There's a good reason for that. I can tell you from first-hand experience that there was absolutely NO way I was mature enough to handle driving a big truck OTR at age 18. I can't speak for all 18 year olds but in hindsight most of the folks I hung out with at age 18 wouldn't last a month on the road. On the other hand, I joined the Army a month after graduating HS a few months shy of my 18th birthday. I got the discipline and maturity I needed from the military and when they "put a rifle in my hand" and sent me to Afghanistan at age 19 I was good to go. So IMHO that argument is invalid. Just my 2 cents.

 

There's not going to be a flood gate of 18 year olds getting into trucking anyway. They're struggling to get kids into welding, electrical, etc. which usually have classes in high schools. blue collar jobs are generally snubbed as low wage, back breaking work. No one wants to do that any more. Everyone wants to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, not Blue Collar Bob.

 

And yet somehow I managed to do it safely with oversize starting out. Statistics speak generally, but, I fought (and still have to fight) the attitude of "you're too young to know anything" on a regular basis. And the most annoying thing is the number of people who make that assumption who haven't even gone beyond general flatbed, reefer, etc. The gaul it takes for some mega-fleet driver like the OP to suggest someone shouldn't be allowed to drive because they're 18-21 who hasn't even come close to handling anything beyond a van trailer, let alone overweight, overheight, over length, or overwidth like I had when I was 21, is astounding.

 

I started hauling oversize loads when I was 21, so I know exactly where you're coming from. People who have never thrown a strap telling you that you don't know how to do your job.

 

I think it was called a 'draft' ..... so no choice ..... the government ...... and by draft, not beer ...... don't forget, the government will ask you / tell you to die at 18 or 19, but it won't let you drink until you're 21

 

I concur ..... only a shortage of pay and respect.

 

I concur with many of the above. I started out at 17 pulling howitzers behind a deuce and a half. By 19 I was pulling supersize military. Mind you the discipline level is different, but I've seen some kids on civie street operate different types of equipment with a pile of skill.

I still think if you're old enough to die in uniform at age 18, then you can be trained to drink, vote, or drive a truck at the same age.

JMHO

 

Mixed feelings. Ive met some young drivers that are great. It's a case by case situation.