Originally published at: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/atas-push-for-teen-truckers-will-make-capacity-glut-worse
The trucking industry finds itself mired in one of the most protracted freight recessions on record, a predicament exacerbated by a flood of capacity that has outstripped demand. This surplus stems from an industry with negligible barriers to entry, where supply can readily overshoot, challenging the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) persistent claim of a perpetual…
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The Anti-Trucking Association (ATA) isn’t for truck drivers; it is for big business. Their objective is to find ways to lower the cost for big trucking companies. They are not for safety on the roads. They want younger drivers because they know they are more naive. They will be easier to brainwash and control. As soon as you get a CDL to drive a truck, you lose some of your Rights as a United States citizen. They push for laws that control the truck drivers, not help them.
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Hi Richard. I’m with you. I started driving when I was 18, but that was in 1970. The traffic situation was much different. I believe new CDL holders must be treated like kids with a new drivers license. They must start out driving or riding with an experienced driver. The first year must be city driving. They will learn how to respect traffic and traffic patterns and how to safely turn right and left. They will learn how to back up to docks, and get good at it because of the number of times they have to do that daily. Then after their first training session they should have a limiting number of miles in their radius. They then get to learn how to merge onto other roadways and highways. They will feel what 60 mph feels like with a lot of traffic around them, and the cautions they have to go through at changing lanes. Hopefully they will have learned that leaving an extra 40 or 50 ft. between them and other vehicles does not get them to their destinations any later. They need to learn patience and driver respect.
Being on and loving the open road is an incredible feeling that makes a truck driver a truck driver. Seeing an accident, makes a person ask if speed or lack of distance or not paying attention was the cause. If the truck driver can drive with a goal of millions of miles and no accidents ~ they are the truck drivers we want on our American highways.
We need to be speaking out on this topic. I submitted feedback to the White House. Feel free to adapt my statement to your own. Here is the link: Contact Us – The White House
The American Trucking Association’s (ATA) claim that there is a commercial driver shortage is simply false and appears to be driven by its own revenue interests, fueled by dues from members with conflicting motivations. As the owner of a trucking company, I can say firsthand that the market still faces an overcapacity of trucks and drivers—largely due to labor dumping through the issuance of CDLs to non-U.S. citizens and the perpetuation of misleading narratives like this one.
Furthermore, the push to put younger drivers behind the wheel of a semi-truck is irresponsible. Research consistently shows that the human brain does not fully mature until the mid- to late twenties, and younger drivers lack the practical experience and judgment that safe commercial driving demands
I deal with it daily shipping domestic and international freight. It scares me to think these people are out on our roads. They arrive to pick up freight and a lot of them can only point to their paperwork because they can’t speak English. This is not only in the freight industry though right? It’s the fault of the businesses who are hiring these people throughout the United States because all they see is cheap labor and more for their bottom line. Shame on them and the immigrants here illegally.