Posted on Dec 26, 2007 - 11:39pm by Wayne Weisser in Trucking
Who would have thought?
DOT proposes truck driving training rule
WASHINGTON (AP) - Truckers and other drivers seeking commercial-vehicle licenses would need to complete classroom and behind-the-wheel training under rules federal regulators proposed Wednesday.
The rule would not affect current holders of a commercial driver’s license.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is seeking public comment on the proposal through March 25, said it would not implement the standard until three years after a final ruling on the matter.
The rule would require truckers to provide a valid certificate from a truck driving program or institution accredited by the U.S. Education Department or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
Just because I’ve never heard of a school that doesn’t give any time behind the wheel doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If that’s the case, maybe the problem is allowing the school instructors to pose as State Driving examiners. If the State performed CDL tests instead of contracting the job to the same school that is getting rich off of teaching their students, CDL holders might actually be able to drive instead of being shipped off to be another company’s problem.
And if you absolutely have to put in your two cents, the FMCSA is taking comments.
It might be time to specialize
RSS feed for comments on this post | Trackback URI
I don’t think an accredited school would really matter. I’ve seen many uneducated folks graduate from accredited schools for other trades.
The only good thing about this is that a driver’s value may go up slightly because it will be more difficult to get a license, therefore a lower supply and higher demand of drivers. There may even be some drivers that should not be driving eliminated in the schools. The CDL test alone removes many from the pool.
One thing for certain, this will be a huge money-maker for schools, especially rural areas that are already struggling.
Some kind of accreditation would be a start and the fact the same instructors from the school take the place of a State examiner leads to all kinds of “possiblities”, the state may think they are being efficient, but it’s not right.
Schools are already the big money maker in this process. Between putting people through school that have no chance of getting a job doesn’t concern these schools once they get the students money or worse, a lot of schools get students grants from the state because they are unemployed or whatever. (BTW - Grants from the State = Tax payer money)
Someone needs to hold these schools accountable for what they are doing and how they are training and putting some standards in training as well as consistency in testing.
There was a Driving School down in Southerm Missouri, that just got Busted this last Fall-2007, for taking kick back and practically giving CDLs, to ILLEGAL ALIENS , of course for a fee, but they never hardly even drove a truck to get the experience, and one of them who was here Illegally, killed an Oklahoma State Trooper down in Oklahoma,,, its just getting more Ridlicious everyday in this business,, I keep saying the good ol’ days are gone, the big Carriers have what I call- McDonaldized this Industry to the point, its not even worth staying in this anymore, its becoming a Joke !!!