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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.

The push to change the law comes as the industry faces an exodus of 600,000 retiring truckers by 2028, and the Transportation Department estimated last October that 80,000 new hires were needed this year to offset attrition and clear a backed-up supply chain.   

The pilot program, detailed last week in a proposed regulation from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, would screen the teens and bar any with driving-while-impaired violations or traffic tickets for causing a crash.

But safety advocates say the program runs counter to data showing that younger drivers get in more crashes than older ones. 

read more:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10416127/Feds-allow-TEENAGERS-drive-big-rigs-state-state-apprenticeship-test-program.html

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  • Odd isn't it, how when confronting one another it always reverts to "Who's the more knowledgeable Christian." Imagine just how frightening we must appear to those who have never heard, met or seen one. The "Religion" worships on the day named after an Egyptian God. They eat flesh and drink blood and worship an instrument of torture. Love of Fellow Man is not because of, rather it must be in spite of. I accept Trump's faults, failures and weaknesses and have no need to continue to keep these things open to become abscess and poison, but rather to concentrate on the positive accomplishments during his tenure if had still been kept in force would have allowed us to remain Energy Independent with Low Cost Fuels, non dependent on China for circuitry and would have staged off defending Police Budgets.

    Lynn Bryant DeSpain

  • In my life I have known many close friends who happen to be "Judges." They all agreed on one single issue, "Ignorance of the Law is always an excuse." There are far too many Laws for any single human being to be aware, or have knowledge of, or should have known of through Common Sense.

    Lynn Bryant DeSpain

  • Once again leaving an option of "either, or", is just another debating technique. " Marshall Law or Defund the Police?" No! Citizen control under the Constitution and Military Constitution with Full Funding of the Police. As American Peoples our biggest problem is accepting the responsibility for the "Position We Are In!" We stood by and allowed it, normally through some benefit to "Us." The more "We" allowed, the greater control over us, and "We" fear a Paper Tiger! We became a cowardly group of people unwilling to accept responsibility for our own choices. We once walked, rode horses and traveled in wagons and carriages. None of these came with Government Standards and Overlook Agencies. Enter the Automobile and whatever went wrong was entirely someone's else's fault and nothing to do with the personal responsibility of checking out a product prior to purchasing. No "We" have allowed millions of Standards to be met from the vehicles through the signals, and speed, insurance, each having Government Employees assuring all is in place. In Our Race To Assure Equality, now No One is Equal, with thousands of attorneys willing to prove it in the Courts. Talk of Marshall Law being a success relates only to Cities. Marshall Law declared in a Nation/Country has always led to Tyranny/Dictatorship. I assert the Marshall Law suggested imposed is to remove the Current Federal Government, so where are the "Civilian Checks, and Controls?" Just another debating technique. Proposals need to be done in their entirety and all inclusive.

    Lynn Bryant DeSpain

  • The owners in the Commercial Trucking Industries will not be so quick to turn over their expensive tractor-trailer rigs to 18yr olds... the heightened insurance premiums for 18yr olds to pilot their rigs will be prohibitive... Many of the larger trucking companies might hire them for local work or as a member of a Team operation... two drivers in one Truck... with an older much more experienced lead driver.  That is likely where many of the 18yr olds will land... as co-driver in a team rig.... until they get the needed experience to handle the rig in all kinds of traffic, weather, night, day, and backing situations.

    Too much overthinking going on... let the free market settle how and if an 18yr old will find employment as a single driver ... doubtful.  Shippers and receivers want their cargo to ARRIVE undamaged and ON TIME... not stranded in some wrecked trailer on the side of the highway.  Insurance companies will be reluctant to insure the rigs and cargo... charging considerably higher rates for those companies who employ such inexperienced younger drivers.  Small operators will not want their living to end up in a ditch with an inexperienced operator suing them for workman's comp... etc.

    • Ron maybe the trucker companies might hire 18  year old to wash, and clean the trucks and to load and unload them. But that is about the extend of it all with their lack of  maturity , and how many 18 years old would actually put in trucker hours OTR?

    • Absolutely... responsible 18yr olds simply don't have the technical EXPERIENCE to safely handle the daily challenges of driving over the road... the weather, traffic, routes, technical skills for maneuvering in very tight situations... backing against traffic, around corners, watching overhead clearances, etc.  It takes years to develop and hone all the skills needed to safely operate a tractor-trailer rig that can be more than 70 feet long.

    • Two things... one, he did not properly secure the D-9 and if he was pulling it with a dump truck that begs the question of how large a dump truck as a D-9 is a huge Dozer and weighs more than 49 tons.. with the cab and blade attached... any hard turn could send it toppling if improperly tied down.  A D-9 is normally moved with the blade, and cab removed to reduce the load and stabilize it in turns.  Two, DOT Regs require such loads to be secured to the trailer in such a manner to keep them attached when the trailer is overturned... obviously, it was not.  Such loads require oversize permits to be moved and in many states they require escorts and approved routes... that avoid sharp turns and narrow roads, have bridge load limits that handle such large and heavy equipment, etc.  I have supervised the movement of D-7's and 8's and they have some serious issues that must be addressed to move safely.  A D-9 is the upper limit of Catiplillers Dozers... the heaviest of its commercial line.

      Inexperienced operators end up in such situations... an experienced operator may well have refused the load if the Dump Truck and Trailer were not rated to carry the load and  if the load could not be secured it properly.  Inexperienced operators may not even know to check for such things.  If the binders used broke they were probably not rated for th load or there were not enough being used, an experienced operator would have or should have refused that load.

    • She's talking a half century ago, doubt the rules were like they are today. 

  • Age is no measure of responsibility. Never has been and never will be. Anyone can be given a badge and gun and called an Officer of the Law, but few have the qualifications to separate personality from duty. The same hold true for Judges given a Robe and Gavel. Personality means full acceptance of Responsibility without personal environment. Many States allow 18 year olds to operate tractor trailers including log trucks in all varieties of weather, traffic and road conditions. CDLs are suspended with reckless driving and DUII. Usually permanently. Far more stringent that private vehicle operating.

    Lynn Bryant DeSpain

    • You are 1000% right, how many 50 yr olds are irresponsible, and how many in high positions are unqualified. They may have the schooling, but not the personality  or intelligence, the strength, for the job. Age has nothing to do with maturity, maturity has nothing to do with responsibility.

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