DENVER — A Utah lawmaker plans to push a resolution in the spring that would set in motion a collaboration with neighboring states that would allow truckers under 21 to drive commercial vehicles across state lines.
“It’s just one of those things that’s been out there for a long time that doesn’t make sense,” Utah Sen. Kevin Van Tassell told Transport Topics on Dec. 10, at the Western States Transportation Alliance’s annual conference here.
“We looked at this a year ago and we thought we already had the opening there, but it’s not there. So we just decided it was time to try to get it moving again,” the senator, a member of various transportation committees, added.
Van Tassell said he will meet with staff and colleagues this month to finalize the resolution’s provisions. He intends to introduce it at the Legislature in the spring. If enacted, Van Tassell expects other states to jump on board and then they will reach out to federal regulators.
The resolution responds to a need to increase the number of drivers across the country, he noted.
A draft of the resolution would outline parameters for Utah to work with its neighbors to allow commercial drivers under 21 to drive about 100 miles via interstates. States, such as Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah would “enter into a voluntary compact to establish a graduated commercial driver licensing program” that would allow drivers 18 to 21 to cross state lines in a commercial vehicle, according to a draft obtained by Transport Topics.
The 2015 FAST Act five-year highway law established a pilot program meant to bring in younger veterans and reserve members to drive certain trucks across state lines. Federal law prohibits such commercial drivers to cross state lines.
