Can drivers be forced to quit for being too old?

My first on the job trainer after CDL school was 78. He was more mobile than most people I see of any age. He was a local shuttle driver/yard dog hybrid. Just drove around town and probably dropped/hooked 20+ times a day. Another one of my coworkers there passed away from a heart attack in his mid 50's after being in seemingly perfect health.

Way too much variation in this industry mentally and physically IMO. Some 25 year olds arent physically in shape enough to even sweep a trailer. And mentally, it's all over the place. Reaction time and being sharp is important, but when dealing with 80,000 pounds, I think patience and planning does a lot more. And I've seen it a couple times, but it's probably 99:1 on 30 year olds vs 65+ year olds on their phone.

 

We should make politicians retire at 55

 

It's usually not age that makes a company want to force a driver out. It's when drivers start losing a step.

One of our older guys will shut down as soon as the sun sets. He'll get up super early and drive through sunrise, but as soon as the sun starts dipping below the horizon, he's parked. He was "forced" from the tanker division to dry van as a result.

Another guy is starting to struggle to climb in the trailer. He's not strapping loads like he should be, so the company tries to keep him on pre sealed loads.

Another struggles to use the tablet because his hand shakes.

All three are great drivers, but at a certain point it will become necessary for the company to step in. It's sad, because two of the three don't have much outside the job.

 

You knew you'd hear from me on this one. Technically, no, you can drive as long as you pass the physical, which, I might add, as the years go by, is harder to do. We can go 'round and 'round, how older drivers are superior, and they are, they have to be to even make it to be older, HOWEVER, yep, here it comes, therein lies the conundrum. I say, there should be a mandatory retirement age, like pilots, or any profession where the public is at risk. 74, 82, 106, and still driving, good for you, but I'm 68, and had a recent health scare, normally good health, passed out on my bicycle with no warning WHATSOEVER! Go to a dr. office, who do you see? Women with a pimple on their ###, and the rest are old men. There are as many as 330,000 medical emergencies on our highways every year, many more go unreported. In a 4 wheeler, not much damage can happen, heck, they run into each other anyway, but an elderly man running an 80,000 pound rig, hazardous, more so, shouldn't tempt fate, and if you think you are immune, that's what I thought.

 

Nobody can be "forced to quit". If an employers is trying to make you quit, it just proves that they are a slimebag. If you quit, you can't collect unemployment. Nobody gives a rat's ### whether you quit or were fired, UNLESS it was 'for cause'. Even then, you can challenge whether you were fired 'for cause', but you can't if you quit. NEVER quit under duress; you will be leaving THOUSANDS of dollar on the table if you do!

 

I see we have two different things going on here.

The question said "forced to quit" and in all cases that would be wrong.

However it is perfectly legal to have a company policy on a maximum age for drivers, unfortunately, since it will be affecting me in a few short years. That would not be the driver quitting, but a legally "forced" termination.

 

i have found that "age discrimination" starts at the application process.

they don't say it to your face, but it's a real thing.

right now in fact, i want to work, part time, to keep busy.

NOT driving, i don't have my CDL anymore, but light stuff, for a few hours a week.

on the applications it asks for employers and dates, you know, the usual.

when i put down my last day, and up to now, well they know i am retired, meaning at least over the age of 65....

then you hear, "we are taking applications at this time only"....like the usual thing they say when a person has a bad driving record, or some other sort of problem....

it's the "usual way' to dismiss you, politely........

 

Well I’m 455 in dog years and still above ground

 

considering that so many cemeteries are full or close to it, we may all be above ground for all of eternity.

 

I do know a company who pretty much made a guy retire,
They would not load him, so finally he just left.
He’s dead now, but he lived another 5-6 years after they did that to him, he was a marine too, kinda wrong they did him that way, it cost them in long run, when we, the other drivers found out, we quit.