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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022
Noah Berger/AP Photo
Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal in Oakland in November.
US to allow young semitruck drivers in test program
Aimed at reducing
supply chain backlogs
By TOM KRISHER
Associated Press
DETROIT — The federal government is
moving forward with a plan to let teenag-
ers drive big rigs from state to state in a test
program.
Currently, truckers who cross state lines
must be at least 21 years old, but an appren-
ticeship program required by Congress to
help ease supply chain backlogs would let
18-to-20-year-old truckers drive outside
their home states.
The pilot program, detailed Thursday in a
proposed regulation from the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration, would screen
the teens, barring any with driving-while-im-
paired violations or traffi c 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.
They say it’s unwise to let teenage drivers
be responsible for rigs that can weigh 80,000
pounds and cause catastrophic damage when
they hit lighter vehicles.
The apprenticeship pilot program was
required by Congress as part of the infra-
structure bill signed into law Nov. 15. It
requires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration , which is part of the Trans-
portation Department, to start the program
within 60 days.
The American Trucking Associations,
a large industry trade group, supports the
measure as a way to help with a shortage of
drivers. The group estimates that the nation
is running over 80,000 drivers short of the
number it needs, as demand to move freight
reaches historic highs.
Under the apprenticeship, younger driv-
ers can cross state lines during 120-hour and
280-hour probationary periods, as long as an
experienced driver is in the passenger seat.
Trucks used in the program have to have an
electronic braking crash mitigation system,
a forward facing video camera, and their
speeds must be limited to 65 mph.
After probation, they can drive on their
own, but companies have to monitor their
performance until they are 21. No more than
3,000 apprentices can take part in the train-
ing at any given time.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin-
istration must reach out to carriers with
excellent safety records to take part in the
program, according to the Transportation
Department.
The program will run for up to three
years, and the motor carrier agency has to
turn in a report to Congress analyzing the
safety record of the teen drivers and making
a recommendation on whether the younger
drivers are as safe as those 21 or older. Con-
gress could expand the program with new
laws.
The test is part of a broader set of mea-
sures from the Biden administration to deal
with the trucker shortage and improve work-
ing conditions for truck drivers.
In a statement, Nick Geale, vice presi-
dent of workforce safety for the trucking
associations, noted 49 states and Washing-
ton, D.C., already allow drivers under 21 to
drive semis, but they can’t pick up a load just
across a state line.
“This program creates a rigorous safety
training program, requiring an additional
400 hours of advanced safety training, in
which participants are evaluated against spe-
cifi c performance benchmarks,” Geale said.
The program will ensure that the industry
has enough drivers to meet growing freight
demands, he said.
But Peter Kurdock, general counsel for
Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety, said
federal data shows that younger drivers have
far higher crash rates than older ones. “This
is no surprise to any American who drives a
vehicle,” he said.
Putting them behind the wheel of trucks
that can weigh up to 40 tons when loaded
increases the possibility of mass casualty
crashes, he said.
Kurdock said the trucking industry has
wanted younger drivers for years and used
supply chain issues to get it into the infra-
structure bill. He fears the industry will use
skewed data from the program to push for
teenage truckers nationwide.
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