A bill introduced into the US Senate would allow truck drivers as young as 18 operate 18 wheelers on many of the country’s superhighways.
The measure comes in response to a historic shortage of qualified truck drivers. According to the American Trucking Association, the current driver shortage stands at 35,000 to 40,000. But because of retirements and drivers leaving the industry, about 100,000 new drivers per year will need to be recruited just to keep up with demand.
US Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) thinks she has the solution: Amend the Commercial Driver Act so that drivers younger than 21 would be allowed to operate vehicles that travel across state lines.
Laws Restrict Teenage Truckers
Currently, some states — including California — allow qualified drivers 18 and older to drive within their state. But federal law prohibits truck drivers younger than 21 from crossing state lines — or even hauling cargo that eventually makes its way to another state.
The new law would allow contiguous states to enter into interstate agreements that would allow the youthful truck drivers to operate in both states. States participating in the program would be required to provide minimum licensing standards that would be acceptable for interstate travel under the bill.
Besides expanding the pool of available new drivers, the law also would establish new well-paying career opportunities for young people graduating high school.
A Solution to the Trucker Shortage
ATA president Bill Graves said his industry group supports the measure.
“It is illogical that a 20-year-old can drive the 500 miles from San Francisco to San Diego but not the 8 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, to West Memphis, Arkansas — or simply across the street in Texarkana,” Graves said in a prepared statement. “Even more illogical is that a 20-year-old may not drive a truck in any state if the cargo in it originated outside the state or will eventually leave the state by some other means.”
Recruiting and retaining truck drivers has become a real problem, partially due to new federal regulations that limit the number of hours a driver can spend behind the wheel without taking a rest break. Other contributing factors include social issues such as a number of time drivers must spend away from their families, the wear and tear that sitting for days behind the wheel of a truck takes on drivers’ bodies.
Allowing younger drivers would offer a solution to some of these problems. People younger than 21 are less likely to have families with young children at home. And their healthier, younger bodies would be better prepared to withstand the strain of long hours behind the wheel.
Higher Wages Being Offered
Another major cause of the driver shortage is the traditionally low wages truck drivers earn.
This has prompted some trucking companies to consider something they have long avoided: Paying higher wages.
Some of the nation’s biggest trucking firms — including Swift Transportation, Con-way Truckload, and US Xpress — are offering higher wages in an effort to secure more new drivers and to reduce driver turnover.
Earlier this year, US Xpress announced that it was instituting an average 13% increase in base mileage pay for over-the-road solo truck drivers, effective August 25. The company’s chief operating officer, Eric Fuller, said that the move was a direct result of the company’s need to recruit and retain qualified drivers.
Recruiting and retaining truck drivers has become a real problem due to the industry’s traditional low wage rate, as well as social issues such as the time drivers must spend away from their families, health problems caused by sitting sedentary behind the wheel for hours or even days at a time.