Originally published at: The Great ELDT CDL Swindle That Downgraded US Trucking - FreightWaves
The Entry-Level Driver Training regulations took effect in February 2022 after years of development and industry lobbying. The result was a federal training standard that requires no minimum hours of instruction, relies on self-certification at every checkpoint, and leaves every meaningful decision about actual driver competency to the fifty states, each operating in fifty different ways. The fraud factories did not slow down.
Hey Rob, great article. I appreciate how you bring the real issues about CDL's facing the trucking industry to the surface in a timely article that should be front and center on Fox News.
I am a third-generation trucker. I grew up in trucks and in the shop fixing trucks. My wife is also from a trucking family. Her parents' team-drove for fifteen years before her mom came off the truck for medical reasons. Back in the 80's I went to trade school for a degree in Auto and Diesel Technology and Repair. After graduating I worked on both cars and trucks for a few years until I went to work for my dad as a mechanic for his small fleet of trucks. Soon after (this is pre-CDL), I was old enough (then the minimum age for an "endorsement" on a regular license was 21), went to A Commercial Driver Training school where I would earn the commercial endorsement for my license.
Here is where the main differences lie in what once were real driver training schools, and the modern CDL mill. The school I went to offer no such thing as "auto-shift" training. They didn't exist then. We started out on an 8 speed Road ranger then went to a 10 speed just to get used to the difference in shift patterns between the 8 and 10. After what seemed like an eternity on those, we started to learn the 13 speed and how to incorporate the "splitter" into the normal shift pattern of the 8-speed. Then came the 15 speed which was taught with the idea of the 10-speed shift pattern of over and down for 5th (or 6th respectively), with an unusual high gear position (4th and 5th swap holes), and only a range divider for deep reduction and direct. After that we learned the 13 "under" drive which was only around for a few years, then we graduated up to an 18-speed which was fairly new on the market as a stand-alone with a splitter because in the past, more gears usually meant a twin-stick or a ■■■■■■■ which according to the school, insurance restriction would not allow the twin-stick to be taught as they were being replaced by the 13 and 18 speeds anyway. The caliber of driving school instructors was much higher then. My instructors were both very experienced drivers who had logged many rough miles in Alaska during the "pipeline" days. They brought many years of hard experience to bear inside the cab of instruction. I had been raised around trucks but didn't have the driving experience they did. I felt like I was getting the best driving instruction I could receive from these guys. In addition to regular classroom instruction, we were also taught to drive different power plants: Cummins, Detroit, and Cat, along with different cab styles; conventional, cabover, and day-cab. We were taught flatbed loading and securement and dry van loading and load securement. Since we were located in a mountainous region, we went on day trips up mountain passes and back with and without jakes first with an empty trailer, then loaded. But before all that we spent hours and hours practicing shifting in the city. We practiced making right turns then left turns in busy intersections. Backing practice was intense because we were expected to back short 28' trailers as well as 53' trailers. Blind side and left side but we had to do it with limited space between trailers and an obstacle in front which limits maneuverability. I thought I would never be able to back my trailer between two other trailers from a right angle.
It has been 38 years since these early days in my trucking career. Since then, I have hauled a lot of different freight in various platforms: Flat, Van, Refer, Tank (Chem, gas, compressed, diesel, Avgas), RGN, Pole (log truck), Beam, High, wide, and heavy, (multi-axle), Possum belly (chips), LCV, and Doubles-Triples. My wife and I started driving as a team many years ago. We have teamed freight in all 48 states and all provinces and territories in Canada. We have logged a combined nearly six million accident-free miles. We now haul primarily Class One Explosives from the East Coast to Alaska. We have over thirty years' experience on the Alcan highway and hauling freight X-border (our first trip was in 1993). I trucked up in Alaska for 19 years. We moved to the lower 48 four years ago so I could earn a Masters degree, which I am nearing completion.
There is a big difference in the caliber of driver between Alaska and the lower 48 (there are many high-quality drivers in the lower 48. I'm talking broadly). I could write a book about the differences in driver caliber and what I think is the greatest contributor for lack of what I call "drivership." In short, it has a lot to do with driver training, and the way drivers approach their vocation. More thorough and complete training with an attitude of respect and pride in what they do and how they do it goes a long way. A good attitude starts with training. Most folks need to be taught what a proper perspective about trucking is, and what it looks like in a professional driver.
Finally, although I have included a lot of my professional history, this reply is not primarily about me. I only use myself as an example of one driver among many who desire to see big changes in driver qualifications and training. I use the training I received only as an example as to what a commercial driver training program could look like and be improved on. The school I went to was in no way perfect, but as compared to many schools today, it is miles above them in a host of ways. I met a supervisor at a driving school recently who told me the primary aim of the school where he works is to make CDL holders, not truck drivers; that was the job of the carrier the graduate goes to work for once they graduate. I understand what he was saying. A driving school no matter how in depth, can only train a driver to a certain point in their skill set. On the job training and experience does the rest over time. I agree, but the foundation upon which a driver builds a safe productive career starts with their initial training. Fifty years ago, there were no driving schools except getting in the truck and figuring it out. But there are many differences between the pre-learning experience of a then young kid learning to drive and an adult today who may be entering the trucking industry as a second occupation after losing a job in the computer sciences. This person never had a dad or uncle, or brother teach them about basic mechanics of a truck or how a diesel engine works and what RPM is best in a particular situation and in a particular gear. Yesterday's drivers were for the most part raised on a farm and already had basic mechanical and driving skills mastered at a young age while they drove the farm truck around hauling hay or whatever. That early training in basic life skills as a driver was a crucial component of being a driver back then. Today, none of that matters because the average computer programmer or other unemployed formerly white-collar individual can go to school and be driving a big truck in 4-6 weeks. It's like going from driving a Volkswagen to 18 wheels in a month or month and a half. No prior knowledge of the industry necessary. No family history, no growing up learning from those who have gone before you. Nothing. I think there lies a big part of the driver issue. There is no personal attachment via family history. No respect for the roots of the industry. It's just a paycheck, nothing more. So, it is no surprise when there is a pile up on the interstate in the thick of winter because most company trucks do not even have a CB radio in the cab. The driver is tuned out of the deteriorating road conditions because they are too involved in listening to a podcast or watching one of the six different screens mounted on the dash. Carriers are largely to blame for the rise in truck crashes that result in huge pileups on the interstate. When drivers are not allowed to operate a CB radio to monitor road conditions ahead from opposing traffic road reports there is trouble brewing. Most inexperienced drivers drive too fast for conditions anyway. They have no idea what they are doing out there in a snowstorm. Many do not even know how to throw a set of chains to get over a mountain pass. The more I type, the more upset I get because of the low level of driver qualification expectations from carriers. Every year there are more preventable crashes that could have been avoided if the carriers raised their driver employment standards and offered more and better paid training. Start looking at drivers the same way airlines look at pilots. Not all who walk through the door with a pulse and a desire to drive a truck should be able to do so. Similar to standards set for pilots. The pilot training schools are long and expensive where only the best graduate. Why are trucking schools any different?
Much will change in this industry once the big companies collectively decide that the once low bar that set the easily passed standard of an entry level truck driver needs to change. They can no longer operate under a double standard which promotes safety as a number one priority but hires drivers who should never have a CDL, and purchase trucks that are anything but safe especially when the driver is not even allowed to use a CB radio and the cruise set speed is so ridiculously low that they promote unsafe passing by other more capable trucks, and encourage rolling road blocks and drag racing which only fuels aggravation from other drivers trying to get around the slow stupid company truck stuck in the left lane that is the last place it should ever be. Yes, it is the big companies that only look to profits over drivers. Once those same companies start hiring experienced drivers with a brain, they will see that it is both safe and productive to raise the speed limiters because the driver knows how to use speed when necessary and how to be fuel efficient and safe at the same time. Why not bring back manual transmissions as a must pass test for one to hold a CDL? Bring back training on basic truck operation systems like engines, transmissions, air systems etc., so drivers have at least a basic understanding of how the machine works. They may never repair the truck but knowing something about it may help in a situation when communicating a problem to someone who can help can save time and money for the company. Training about how weight distribution works and how to slide tandems or fifth wheel to move weight where necessary should be standard basic knowledge. I could go on, and every experienced driver could add their own list of must haves when forming a syllabus for training at a local driving school. The feds would do well to ask only drivers with ten years of experience with multiple platforms how best to serve the industry in terms of what subjects should be taught to proficiency by a driving school and what should the qualifications of instructors, supervisors, and owners/CEOs be of said private schools that train for hire. This includes large carriers that have their own CDL schools on site, and those who farm out the training to for-profit training schools. Much needs to happen in the industry to make real changes that have a real impact in the industry. I hope it happens in the near future.