Editorial: CDL Licensing Delays
This Editorial appears in the March 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The struggles of the nation’s trucking fleet to attract and retain qualified drivers have been well-documented in the pages of Transport Topics for many years now.
From long stretches of time away from home for longhaul drivers to the continued frustration with burdensome government regulations to the indecisiveness to seriously tackle highway funding and congestion issues, being a professional truck driver takes a special type of person.
So it is with extreme dismay that we report this week on page 1 about delays applicants for commercial driver licenses face in many states.
Don Lefeve, president of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, said it can take up to 45 days for CDL applicants in some states to arrange a skills test due to inadequate staffing and a limited number of testing facilities.
He wants states to expand the number of third-party testing sites.
The long delays are leading some to give up on their driving careers, even before they have a chance to get started.
CVTA officials, who met with members of Congress earlier this month, want a requirement to at least study the benefits of third-party testing as part of the new highway funding bill.
Gaining a greater understanding of the issue seems like a pretty fair request, considering that an official with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials told Transport Topics that “no one is tracking the issue closely enough to be able to comment.”
With the need for more qualified drivers over the coming decade as freight demand grows, and older drivers retire, it stands to reason this is one issue that should not get bogged down in partisan politics.
Of course, there remains unanimous consent within the trucking industry of the need to be more “driver-centric.”
That will be among the key themes of the Truckload Carriers Association meeting, which is taking place this week in Grapevine, Texas.
“We live in a world of drivers, or lack thereof, and we’ve got to find ways to nurture them and get them to want to come to our industry,” said TCA’s incoming chairman, Shepard Dunn, president of Bestway Express Inc. in Vincennes, Ind.
The conference will include discussions on better ways to attract returning military veterans to the industry, as well as a joint discussion between leaders of TCA and American Trucking Associations about key industry issues.
And if there were not already enough critical issues to deal with, it sounds like the delay in testing CDL applicants may be another one to add to the list.
