Federal government will allow TEENAGERS
to drive big rigs from state to state
in apprenticeship test program in an effort
to ease supply chain backlog
Daily Mail (UK) & Associated Press,
by
Michelle Thompson
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
1/18/2022 10:17:24 PM
The federal government will let teens drive transports throughout the nation in a move it hopes will alleviate the supply chain crisis—but the initiative is being panned by critics who fear it could lead to disaster. The new apprenticeship program deviates from current law—which requires truckers crossing state lines to be at least 21 years old—by allowing 18- to 20-year-old drivers to travel beyond their home states.(Snip)But safety advocates say the program runs counter to data showing that younger drivers get in more crashes than older ones. They say it's unwise to let teenage drivers be responsible for rigs that can weigh 80,000 pounds
Reply 1 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 1/18/2022 10:28:27 PM (No. 1043407)
What could go wrong?
We already have Mexican and Russian truckers who can't speak English blindly following their GPS systems up every one lane road in America.
22 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
sunshinehorses 1/18/2022 10:30:07 PM (No. 1043411)
How the heck is this going to help the supply chain when it is sitting in ships off the east and west coast??? Allowing 18-20 years olds that have probably never left their state to travel coast to coast is ridiculous. Take a kid from Iowa that has never driven the mountains and that would be a wreck and a half. How about traveling the tiny road up in New England??
18 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
wilarrbie 1/18/2022 10:32:02 PM (No. 1043413)
Outstanding! Smart move, Pete. Brilliant. Why hadn't we done this before, what were we thinking? Teenagers in the big rigs. What a concept.
21 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 1/18/2022 10:35:02 PM (No. 1043415)
Pete has Truck Stop dreams..."Oooo looky, young boy truckers!"
s/o
25 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 1/18/2022 10:46:37 PM (No. 1043422)
The problem is the disastrous operations at the docks. I wonder how much is the union dock thugs bucking for more money.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 1/18/2022 11:13:21 PM (No. 1043437)
Up next, truck loans for teens. Drive that debt!
11 people like this.
Can you find any that can pass the drug test? That's proving to be a big deal getting drivers of all ages.
16 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 1/18/2022 11:22:23 PM (No. 1043441)
This is such a bad idea that only a liberal bureaucrat could have thought of it.
Having said that…. An old hunting buddy of mine was a long-distance trucker for over 45 years. He started when he was 16 - illegally, of course, but he made it there and back without any trouble until he was old enough to be legal!
8 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
itsonlyme 1/18/2022 11:25:20 PM (No. 1043442)
Next will probably be a 5 minute True or False test leading to become a medical surgeon. Practicum involves passing, with flying colors, the Classic Operation Game.
12 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
wilarrbie 1/18/2022 11:39:39 PM (No. 1043449)
Sorry for 2nd post, but it occurs to me we have a BUNCH of deadbeat adults without jobs and outstanding college loan debts. Why aren't we demanding they chuck the belief they can find gainful employment with their degree is 'special studies' and take a real job. Trade off a portion of their debt for new training.
15 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
smokincol 1/18/2022 11:58:17 PM (No. 1043455)
diapers and the rest of the incompetents in his cabal of morons are applying a band-aid to an open sucking chest wound either by intent or serendipity, hoping one or the other will / would stop this hemorrhaging of trust the people have in him / them. they can't make things right by originally making them wrong.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
earlybird 1/19/2022 12:11:36 AM (No. 1043458)
A 20 year old is not a teenager. Can drive in his own state. Could have perhaps for several years. What magically happens when he turns 21?
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
lakerman1 1/19/2022 12:24:43 AM (No. 1043461)
We don't know if teen drivers of big rigs will have high accident rates, when compared to teen boys driving cars, showing off, cuddling with their girl friend as they drive down the road.
Starting the program as outlined, makes good sense.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 1/19/2022 12:51:07 AM (No. 1043467)
It's not a lack of drivers it is the ridiculous CA truck energy requirement that they are low emission vehicles meeting their green energy requirements in order to pick up loads at any CA port, and transport within the state. All smoke and mirrors to put the solution on something that has no impact on the problem.
12 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 1/19/2022 2:18:59 AM (No. 1043478)
Just what is a "teenager" these days? If an 18 year old is a murderer, he's written up as a "child". If an 18 year old is a truck driver, he too is a "child". If a 17 year old (with parent's approval) is in the infantry well, he's an adult. Keep in mind under Obamacare people are "children" until 26. So, what is a "child" these days.
12 people like this.
18 year old American teenagers are driving big rigs in the military and in their home states... what difference does a state borderline make? This is a big issue in the trucking industry! Young men and women out of high school may have learned to be a truck driver in a vocational tech program in high school. Big trucking companies won't hire them because they can't driver interstate and they can't get a federal hazardous material CDL because they're too young. So.. instead of becoming a trucker, they do something else .
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
mifla 1/19/2022 4:53:59 AM (No. 1043521)
I am less concerned about the age (at 18 you can volunteer to defend your country and no one objects), then I am about the experience. Truckers can get into serious weather conditions and difficult terrain. Novices may not handle these situations well, and an out of control truck can do a lot of damage.
8 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Rinktum 1/19/2022 5:02:58 AM (No. 1043522)
Typical democrat decision to look like they are doing something when, in fact, they are doing nothing to solve the problem. They never cease to amaze me with their incompetent answers to real problems. Have they ever solved one problem satisfactorily? They truly are ideological driven incompetents.
6 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
stablemoney 1/19/2022 5:09:43 AM (No. 1043525)
The U.S. is now making driver licensing requirements? I thought the states were the issuers of drivers licenses and made the legal requirements for getting a commercial license, based on passing tests to operate different types of trucks.
6 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
chance_232 1/19/2022 6:29:59 AM (No. 1043571)
I had two friends in the 70's that drove trucks in their teens. One owned his own rig. Both were some of the most responsible young adults that I've ever known.
I'm really not bothered by this. If you can man artillery at 18, you can drive a truck.
6 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 1/19/2022 7:01:13 AM (No. 1043611)
The employment opportunities for teenagers today are boundless. Get your foot in the door anywhere and work hard, the Sky is the limit. College is a waste of time and money....you’ll just come out the other side broke and stupid.
9 people like this.
I judge people by their skill level and not their age.
But clearly this is being done to replace men who were smart enough not to take the vaccine, with those who were not.
4 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
homefry 1/19/2022 7:34:28 AM (No. 1043642)
For once, I agree with the c--ck sucker. When I was a teen ager boys 18 years old and even younger drove trucks. I even knew one who pulled mobile homes, which is a different talent, they back way differently.
NOW, I aint saying just any teenager, but I am saying they shouldnt be excluded just because of their age.
4 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Paperpuncher 1/19/2022 7:53:03 AM (No. 1043661)
Not likely to happen. Insurance companies prefer to not cover commercial drivers under 25 years old. Also just a stupid thing to do.
3 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
gwholmessr 1/19/2022 8:28:53 AM (No. 1043710)
If these guys are off the farm and have been running equipment most of their life then I don’t have a problem. At 18 I was a certified class 3, which is Class A now, to haul equipment for the state of PA. I grew up working on farms and my dad and uncles were truckers. At 21 I became an over the road trucker and started but hauling machinery to the west coast from PA. And the big bad mountains weren’t a challenge, I used common sense to conquer them. I could go on but I’m not going to. Quit being so negative, with the right guidance this could be a good thing. Something has to be done or we are soon going to be naked and hungry.
7 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
paral04 1/19/2022 8:35:07 AM (No. 1043718)
Maybe we would have more adult truckdrivers if states like Pennsylvania allowed them to stop and use the bathrooms there. They were afraid the drivers would give them COVID or something.
3 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
frew 1/19/2022 9:27:05 AM (No. 1043792)
It's a characteristic of government bureaucrats that they don't understand how much skill is required to do jobs like trucking. I'd like to see a bureaucrat manage shifting through 16 gears to drive a 40 ton rig on a mountain road in the winter much less knowing how to start the engine.
2 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
Goose 1/19/2022 9:52:00 AM (No. 1043823)
Teenagers? Don't we already give teenagers guns and send them across interational borders to fight in wars? But driving trucks? Whoa!
1 person likes this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
udanja99 1/19/2022 10:02:32 AM (No. 1043837)
The problem is California’s insane environmental laws which will not allow a truck over 3 years old to enter their state. You can add a million truck drivers but they will still be kept out of California if their truck is too old.
2 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
red1066 1/19/2022 10:07:05 AM (No. 1043841)
The trucks will have flames on the side, with holes cut in the hoods so the superchargers can stick out. The trucks will be fitted with side exhausts and much wider tires, and of course, enough speakers to shatter the windows of other vehicles as they pass by.
2 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
bighambone 1/19/2022 10:18:51 AM (No. 1043863)
Common sense will tell you that there are going to be a lot more serious accidents involving teen drivers operating 18 wheelers on the highways of America. Can you imagine imagine the situations that will occur at America’s big truck stops when lots of teen female and male truck drivers start hanging out in those big lots over night? The so-called “lot lizard” business folks will be having a ball.
0 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
Laotzu 1/19/2022 10:41:38 AM (No. 1043892)
Great. Mario Kart with tractor trailers.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
Just picture it, hot young teen boy truckers cruising our highways and rest stops! Oooh gah. I wonder who came up with this idea.