As the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, trucking leaders are continuing to advocate for the most important issues impacting the industry. On April 14, 117 organizations, representing the agriculture, manufacturing, retail, food service and trucking sectors of the U.S. supply chain, sent a letter to transportation leaders in Congress urging passage of the DRIVE-Safe Act, legislation that can help remedy the growing driver shortage.
Currently, 49 states and Washington D.C. allow individuals under the age of 21 to obtain a commercial driver’s license (must be 21 in New York) and operate commercial vehicles in intrastate commerce. However, these same individuals are prohibited by federal law from driving a truck across state lines until they turn 21.
The DRIVE-Safe Act would launch a two-step apprenticeship program to allow drivers to participate in interstate commerce. In order to qualify, candidates must complete at least 400 hours of additional training—far beyond what is required of any other CDL holder in the nation. Secondly, all qualified drivers participating in the apprenticeship program would be accompanied by an experienced driver in the cab and would only be allowed to drive trucks outfitted with the latest safety technology, including active braking collision mitigation systems, forward-facing dash cams, speed limiters set at 65 mph or lower, and automatic or automatic-manual transmissions.
www.trucker.com
Currently, 49 states and Washington D.C. allow individuals under the age of 21 to obtain a commercial driver’s license (must be 21 in New York) and operate commercial vehicles in intrastate commerce. However, these same individuals are prohibited by federal law from driving a truck across state lines until they turn 21.
The DRIVE-Safe Act would launch a two-step apprenticeship program to allow drivers to participate in interstate commerce. In order to qualify, candidates must complete at least 400 hours of additional training—far beyond what is required of any other CDL holder in the nation. Secondly, all qualified drivers participating in the apprenticeship program would be accompanied by an experienced driver in the cab and would only be allowed to drive trucks outfitted with the latest safety technology, including active braking collision mitigation systems, forward-facing dash cams, speed limiters set at 65 mph or lower, and automatic or automatic-manual transmissions.
For the Driver
For the Driver from American Trucker serves independent owner-operators and growing trucking fleets operating fewer than five power units.
www.trucker.com
