Legislation introduced to allow 18 year old interstate CDL drivers

Think on the plus side. How many kids want to drive? I bet there's a lot. Instead of getting them fresh out of highschool, they have to wait 3 years. Many probably get jobs operating equipment or go into skilled trades. Then they turn 21 and probably think "#### driving. I'm making more money welding/wrenching/operating/building houses etc."

 

You know what trades pay. My kid is boilermaker and their is a holy crapload of work available in Canada. Those skilled trades pay over $40 per hour and you don't have to give a hour free. Trucking just cant retain the best and brightest out of high school. The dregs of society will make trucking a career, the ugly truth.

 

That's just it too. I see two types getting a driving job at 18.
1. Those that have been dreaming of driving a truck since they were 6. This type is the bad type as they have to learn how to drive while learning how to be an adult. Don't see much diffrence between an 18 and 21 year old though. Both are still learning to be an adult.

The second kind is the farmer who has been driving heavy equipment since they could reach the peddles. We need more of these type before they give up and settle for a factory job somewhere.

 

I was actually driving a class 8 straight truck at 15. Stuff needed moved and it was a different time back then (late ‘80s).

I actually drove a single axle IH with a 40’ flat to high school my senior year. The school was building a homecoming float for the parade, and I hauled the lumber in from the local mill.

I grew up on a farm and my Granddad owned a trucking outfit. I was one of those that had been driving since I could reach the pedals.

All that being said, if the ATA is for it, it can’t be good. All they are looking for is a bigger pool of steering wheel holders.

 

Millennium truck drivers. Hardly. When the pay reaches the work, otherwise nope.

 

mmm... had a discussion with someone about this today. Kinda torn but I honestly don’t see much difference in 18 and 21. I think maturity and attitude would be more important than age and there’s no set age for either of those. Then I feel like if 17/18 is old enough to fight a nations wars, 18 should be old enough to drive a truck.

 

I do not see a problem with it. I was driving non-cdl tow trucks at 16 for the local salvage yard and a AAA contractor and have had my class A cdl since 18, started as a mechanic at a local school bus company and was driving school bus on the morning and afternoon routes while fixing them in-between. Pennsylvania allows 18 year olds to drive class A vehicles right now, my biggest problem was we lived only a few miles from the NY and NJ line, I could drive all day in PA but could not go into NY or NJ with my tow truck or to rescue one of our buses that broke down or to take an activity trip somewhere. Stupid if you ask me, there is no difference between driving in a large state like Texas or Pennsylvania than driving across state lines. Besides, the only 18 year olds that will apply to become truckers already are interested in the industry and are not your typical 18 year old.

 

I’ve met some 18 year olds that were mature enough to do it and some 40 year olds that weren’t.

 

I think the root of this discussion comes down to the need to establish a single, across-the-board age of majority. Once that specific age is reached, full consideration as an adult should be given. Seperate ages for drinking,voting, entering legal contracts, etc. all seem contrary to the base concept of adulthood.

Once we agree to treat everyone at X age as a full-on adult, then Darwinism and employers can do the rest.

 

You guys are missing the big picture here. This bill is a prime example of the mega carriers using government to stay competitive. First they rammed through Elogs to benefit themselves by reducing the amount of capacity their smaller competitors had... and now they are trying to get a bill passed to allow 18-21 year olds to drive interstate... knowing full well that they are the only companies that will be able to hire them for insurance and training reasons.

They created a problem and are now proposing to 'fix' it with another law that is massively beneficial to them.

The good news is that the trend in the entire global economy is away from large organizations and towards smaller more elite companies that are very very good at one thing. You see this trend everywhere once you start looking, and the large companies of the world are quite justifiably terrified. That makes me really happy... Good riddance to them. Their control over our economic life is why most of the people reading this thread haven't gotten an actual raise (as opposed to a promotion where they gave more to get more) in their entire adult lives.