Originally published at: FMCSA signals no fast track for teen-driver program extension - FreightWaves
Federal regulators are holding off a decision on 18-20-year-old truck drivers, eventually forcing a choice between big-fleet expansion and small-business wage protection.
Sure. Let’s extend the opportunity to 15-year-olds who have their learner’s permit. As long as they don’t work more than three days a week and never past 8 p.m. God Almighty! Which fool at the American Trucking Association can possibly advocate this farce?
The Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program is deregulation charade dressed up as “innovation.” It asks the public to believe that a laminated checklist, a dashboard full of sensors, and a corporate mentorship memo can substitute for maturity, judgment, and hard-earned experience — all while placing 80,000-pound vehicles into interstate commerce. What could possibly go wrong?
We are told this is about safety. Of course it is. Everything is “about safety” right up until the first ■■■■■■■. The real objective is obvious: cheaper labor, higher turnover, and a deeper bench of drivers with minimal leverage. Mega-fleets want a younger workforce because young drivers churn faster, question less, and cost less. Calling that workforce development is like calling payday loans financial inclusion.
Trucking already struggles to verify who is behind the wheel, whether training was legitimate, whether logs reflect reality, and whether carriers even exist beyond a mailbox. Now the solution is to lower the entry age? That’s not safety reform — that’s slop-artistry.
Experience is not a luxury in trucking; it is the safety system. You don’t learn winter driving, crisis judgment, or risk anticipation from a tablet. You learn it by surviving years on the road without ■■■■■■■ someone. Aviation figured this out a century ago. Rail figured it out. Trucking, apparently, wants to ignore Reality.
If the industry truly cared about safety, it would stabilize rates, strengthen training, enforce standards, and stop flooding the market with disposable drivers. But that costs money. It’s far cheaper to call kids “apprentices” and hope the public doesn’t notice.
This program isn’t about helping young people. It’s about helping balance sheets. And everyone knows it.
These people are crazy. Thats one of the problems now and has been my 25 years. Too many immature drivers out here. See, this is why the country has an illegal immigrant problem. Corporate and businesses put profit over the law and safety. Blame everyone, except the people who started the trend of hiring cheapest labor. They didnt care about borders. Which ironically how my family was used for over 200 years. Except they were this countrys FREE labor. Now they want to put a youth behind the wheel of a potential 40 ton vehicle. People can continue this party divisiveness, while corporation and businesses continue their pursuit of money over safety.