ATA Looks To Lower Minimum Driver Age To 18

Megas are self insured. They pay for catastrophic insurance, but pay out of pocket for most claims. Hiring an 18 year old isn't going to affect them at all. As a city boy, if we were just talking about farm kids who grew up driving tractors and combines and such, I'd have no problem with OTR at 18. That's not what we're talking about. I think it would be foolish to lower the age to 18.

 

Also, it's a fact, many 18 year olds aren't even getting their driver's license. A generation ago, nothing was more important than getting a driver's license, now, with social media and lack of responsibility, it's not even an issue now for some.

 

As has been pointed out repeatedly; the carriers that stand to benefit from this are already self insured. It's the small carriers......the backbone of the industry......that would have issues insuring young drivers.

 

nobody has mentioned this

an 18 year old WILL work for LESS than a 21 year old


I love how they consider this shortly before I turn 25. this would have been nice to be done 7 years ago when I was 18 and looking for a job.

Trucking is a great thing, I was forced to grow up really fast when I started driving so imagine what it will do to the average 18 year old. It would also keep 18-22 year olds out of trouble.

i'm all for it. i'm just not a fan of the ATA, or OOIDA honestly

 

I've been told that the MALE brain doesn't develop properly until 20.5, which is why the drinking age is 21

lets assume the 18 year olds stay in the industry for 5-7 years, do you have any idea what job offers they will have in the smaller carriers? you now have a better pool of people to hire from, and a 25 year old will work for less than a 30 year old so it has so many benefits! if you charge less for freight you can get more business and put more money in your pocket and the companies pocket which only means both parties can benefit! this is a great idea for everyone!

 

I think this thing can really cut 2 ways. Like many , older drivers ( those over 60 ) I learned by working on a family farm. At 15 my uncle ( after a ton of begging on my part ) started letting drive an and old tractor and milk tank he owned. By the time I finished high school , and turned 18 I had close to 3 years experience drivng a semi. It is possibe for an 18 year old to be mature enough to handle this job , but on a limited basis. In today's world kids aren't raised like they were back then. So if I had to vote on lowering the age I would probably vote no , using that reason.

 

your parents weren't rasied the same way your grandparents were

my parents weren't raised the same way my grandparents were

that doesn't make either group of people better or worse than the next

 

Lowering the interstate driving age to 18 would be a great idea - ONCE THE CDL TRAINING REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN REFORMED AND STRENGTHENED.

Until the CDL Mills are brought to heel and getting a CDL requires more than a pulse we will still have unqualified people driving. There needs to be a mileage AND time behind the wheel requirement before testing for a final CDL. All CDL tests should use a 53 foot trailer (and preferably a sleeper truck). A passing score should by 15 points not 25 and the written test should be short answer not multiple choice.

If CDL schools are sending qualified drivers to the industry then age should not be a factor.

I agree that the industry looses many potential quality drivers due to the three year gap between high school and interstate driving. Sending young people to college/trade school if they do not have the desire/resources is a recipe for failure. Take a look at glassdoor, salary.com, etc and look at median college income ($60,000 per NCES), then factor in college graduation rates (60%), and then unsecured college debt ($28,400 per graduate). College should be an active decision not "what everyone does after high school".

To those who say "kids these days are irresponsible" I would point to IBM busts the nasty myths of the millennial employee. That and the number 40 somethings that I meet who make two year olds look reasonable and educated.

 

I am one of the few who had the cdl while even in high school, and I can tell you the intrastate haul for 18 year to 21 is junk because one highway looks like the rest, its all asphalt after so many miles, some say, "Well when I was 18 I used to go forth and so on and stay in trouble and on and on.." now you're stereotyping everyone else because of some misadventures that you may, or may not have done back some ten twenty years ago and so forth, I'm not Judging I'm sure we've all done things we're not proud of and would change if we could but that's not why we're here..

Now, I'm going to agree that most young people are not going to do this job or aren't even able but some are and we should not hold someone who maybe set to become a driver.
The insurance companies basically 'rule the world' they tell you who you can/cannot hire, just because of someones age, most require 23 year old/1 year with exp., but have any of those that are determining these rules ever left the state they're in even in a passenger car, let alone a semi?
Even with these schools, they throw drivers out into the real world some after 2-3 weeks or even less, and insurance companies grant that as 1 year OTR driving?? Most of you know and understand that there is no physical way that anyone can learn all there is to this job within a month even as someone who has been out here a year. The trainers they put you with, have to show you the ropes and even some have to spend time with you and show you how to go on forth and get your mountain driving experience or your first year of slipping and sliding around these butterfly, cloverleaf type ramps that are completely iced over and starting out on the high side of them knowing that when you make it around it your trailer will have slid down to the lower side of the ramp. From my point of view I worked the intrastate gig from 18-23, because most companies then couldn't hire you due to insurance reasons until the age of 23. On my 23rd birthday I went to a local flatbed company, Howard Trucking,*No longer in business* and started out December 1, 2005 and took off solo with flatbed with a load on the yard heading from a town I've lived in my whole life of maybe 7k people to Beaver Dam, WI snow and ice almost all the way from there on to Chicago, and been driving ever since.
So for my life, I've only had a car driver license for 2 years, from 16-18 and rest been in possession of my cdl with all endorsements.
I've trained drivers working with the same company, Some in the mid 50s which one I put out within 10 miles of the yard, I took him back to the terminal and told them I wouldn't waste my time with him because he wouldn't listen to a guy in his mid 20s trying to teach him, from taking off in granny with an empty flatbed with me to maxing the engine out with ever gear and me trying to tell him the right way to even stalling the motor from dumping the clutch. The guys name was Stanley and said he'd been driving for several years but he wasn't leaving the county with me let alone the state. Another driver cried with a photo of his family in his hand for the first 50 miles leaving the terminal and I came back to the yard and quit training.
So the moral of this story, is no matter what age you are, you may see someone who is 40+ years old, but they may have just started driving during the last month, Judge not until you see someones skill with a truck in reverse, cause you can teach a dog to drive forward.

Now you can see why the handle "Judge" was stowed upon me because everyone used to judge me as a 'no nothing kid' until they seen what I could do with a truck, as I was taught by my dad who has 30+ year exp. in flatbed/oversize freight, and I was taught how to back up a truck before ever going forward.
You have to give someone a chance before automatically putting them down, everyone regardless of age, had to crawl before they could walk.

 

Very true. But , look at the way the average 18 year old lives today. They very rarely are able to support themselves , they carry very little personal responsibility , things were very different in the 60's , most , not all kids today , are in no way ready for that kind of responsibility. Just like in the 60's a certain amount of kids were not ready either. I did not say it wasn't possible , I said that after coming up in a farming environment I was prepared. Those that weren't raised in that type of situation aren't prepared. That's what I meant by saying its possible on a limited basis. Please read before you comment.