Is it stupid to get a CDL at age 18, 19, or 20?

It is not foolish to get licensed now, as there are still opportunities for young drivers. In addition, there are murmurs throughout the industry about possibly lowering the interstate age. Some say its a mistake, but for those who aren't college-bound, there are dozens of trades willing to accept a high school grad, train him (apprenticeship), pay him, and by the time he's old enough to go interstate trucking, he's already well on his way to Journeyman status. That's a LOT of interested, otherwise eligible talent being pushed aside and lost forever.

In our company's case, interstate is, of course, 21. We have several local positions, but most of them are highly sought-after and have regional drivers on a waiting list to fulfill the roles. One position, however, is perpetually shorthanded: the Yard Spotter drivers. Because of this, and the fact they rarely leave the customer's property, we hire any age for the role. I hired an 18 y/o girl last fall to drive a spotter truck for us. That's her primary role, and we have also trained her to run a shag truck (moves trailers around town) when needed. As soon as she's 21, she'll be primed and ready to run the system, as well as already having built up 3 years' worth of experience and her 401(k) with us. Compare that to a standard 21 y/o just finishing school who now has to look at the megas to be treated like dirt for the first year out on the road...

 

Right after the government complained about the shortage of truck drivers . Then they pass a law making it harder obtain a class a ... if that doesn't sum up the government idk what does lol

 

It's called "Entry-Level Driver Training" and it started on 02/07/2022. It applies to everyone getting a CDL Class A or B, or if you're applying for a Hazmat, Passenger, and/or School Bus endorsement. I personally got my CLP before it began just so I wouldn't have to complete ELDT (it doesn't apply to everyone who got their permits before Feb 7). I heard it makes it a lot harder to get a CDL now.

 

They were likely sniffing coke when they came up with this? Idk.

 

1. I got my CDL now. I asked this because I thought about canceling my CDL skills test and doing it when I'm 21 but I chose to take it anyway and turns out I passed.

 

You have a cdl now?

 

Yeah, yesterday. This post was made 2 days ago when I thought about skipping the CDL road test.

 

Good, you're ready to roll then. Start some applications. You'll have a job on your 21st birthday.

 

There's some CDL-B otr jobs.

 

To be fair, it was written into law several years ago, and got pushed back several times.
Still, could have pushed it back again.