Dealing with the driver shortage was top of mind during a panel discussion with HDT’s 2020 and 2021 Fleet Innovator honorees at Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange.
In beta test results of its younger driver assessment tool, the American Transportation Research Institute found that drivers deemed “less safe" exhibited difficulties with cognitive control.
COVID-19 does not seem to have slowed down the staff at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is juggling multiple rulemakings and research projects as it approaches the last months of the current administration’s term, from younger drivers to additional hours-of-service flexibility.
While age does have some impact on potential truck driver risk, commercial motor vehicle driving experience is more important than age when considering risk, according to a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study.
IIHS is urging FMCSA to use caution before any expansion of its pilot program allowing truck drivers under 21 to participate in interstate commerce.
Testifying before a House subcommittee, several trucking stakeholder groups made a case for the importance of trucking to the U.S. economy and offered plans on how to improve it, from infrastructure funding to safety regulations.
The reintroduced DRIVE-Safe ACT would allow drivers as young as 18 years old to drive heavy-duty trucks in interstate commerce.
Three Republican Senators introduced a companion bill to the DRIVE-Safe Act that was proposed in the House of Representatives earlier this year that would lower the age requirement for new interstate truck drivers to 18 under certain conditions.
The U.S. DOT plans to launch a pilot program that would allow 18-20 year olds who have the military equivalent of a commercial driver’s license to operate large trucks in interstate commerce. The results could play a vital role in lowering the age of eligibility for some truck drivers.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, along with other groups, is opposing two bills before the House of Representatives that would allow for lowering the age requirement for obtaining an interstate commercial driver’s license.
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