ATRI, Minnesota Trucking Assn. Plan Study on Safety Records of Younger Truck Drivers
This story appears in the May 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
The American Transportation Research Institute and the Minnesota Trucking Association are joining forces to conduct a pilot project that will compare the records of young drivers with those of more experienced drivers.
The research project, approved by the ATRI board late last month, will test the theory that properly screened and trained 18- to 20-year-old intrastate truck drivers could be a potential future pool to address the industrywide shortage.
“The truck driver shortage continues to rank as one of the most critical issues facing the trucking industry,” a research proposal written by MTA said.
American Trucking Associations estimates the driver shortage ranges from 30,000 to 35,000. ATA estimates that figure could increase to nearly 240,000 by 2022.
Although most states permit 18- to 20-year-old drivers to work intrastate, federal regulations require interstate drivers to be 21.
The resulting three-year post-high school gap prevents many young people entering the labor market from considering a career in truck driving, according to ATRI research.
ATRI will be taking the lead in the project, MTA President John Hausladen said.
The precise methodology to be used in the study has not been developed, but the ultimate goal is to identify what traits talented young drivers possess that can help persuade federal regulators to allow them to drive outside their state boundaries, ATRI President Rebecca Brewster said.
“This is just another look at a way to approach getting more folks into the industry,” Brewster told Transport Topics. “Our study that came out in December used census data to look at the fairly precipitous cliff we’re on in terms of bringing younger folks into the industry.”
Brewster was referring to a study in which ATRI identified a lack of younger workers entering the profession to replace drivers exiting the industry as a key factor in the shortage. According to the group, trucking is disproportionately dependent on drivers ages 45-54, a segment set to retire over the next few decades.
ATRI’s annual “Top Industry Issues” research has been monitoring the rise of the driver shortage for almost a decade, and in 2014, the issue ranked second.
“Unfortunately, the trucking industry is not attracting a younger cohort, ages 25-34, to replace these retirees,” the MTA proposal said.
One long-term solution to the shortage is to address the time gap between high school and a trucking career by developing a graduated CDL for younger truck drivers, according to the group.
In 2000, the Truckload Carriers Association submitted a proposed pilot program to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration designed to train 18- to 20-year-olds as truck drivers. However, the agency rejected TCA’s proposal citing a lack of relevant data to show that younger drivers can be safe behind the wheel, MTA said.
“Since 2000, the trucking industry has seen significant advancements in truck-driver screening techniques, safety technologies, and regulatory oversight,” the trucking group said.
Because the younger truck drivers are valid CDL holders, FMCSA approval will not be needed to conduct research, Brewster said.
The idea would be for MTA and ATRI to develop a graduated CDL screening, training, and monitoring program for a test group of truck drivers ages 18-24 and compare that group’s safety data to a control group of drivers aged 25-34.
“We could then determine what relationship, if any, exists between our graduated CDL program and truck driver safety,” MTA said. “Assuming the safety data demonstrates a positive correlation between them, we would propose FMCSA lower the truck-driver age restriction to 18 years old under a graduated CDL program.”
Additional institutional limitations on how old a person must be to participate in certain sectors of the industry include hazardous materials or longhaul trucking, where 25 years of age is a common insurance-based expectation, ATRI said.
