Regulators call out CDL mills, driver shortage myth

For the past decade or so, the trucking industry’s playbook has been simple – hire drivers fast and cheap, then load their rigs with “safety gadgets.”

But with OOIDA and individual truck drivers in their ear, the U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA are taking a refreshingly logical approach to highway safety that starts with a well-trained driver.

That’s right. The DOT has finally pushed back against the driver shortage myth and turned its attention to making sure that only qualified drivers take the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle.

“If you don’t want to follow our standards, then you need to stay out of the profession,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said during a news conference on Oct. 30.

The new approach started to take shape just months into President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

In May, the DOT announced it would begin placing truck drivers who lack basic English skills out of service. While English proficiency has been a requirement for decades, it wasn’t enforced in the last 10 or so years.

Then, in late September, the FMCSA issued an emergency interim final rule to drastically reduce the number of people eligible for a non-domiciled CDL.

Now, the department is issuing a warning to bad actors who put unqualified drivers behind the wheel.

“We are going to look at those individuals, and there will be serious consequences for them,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

CDL mills

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., wrote a letter to Duffy in October, asking the DOT to crack down on the CDL mills across the country.

A quick Google search will reveal CDL training schools that claim they can get people a license in 24 hours. The lawmakers said that real training is needed to make the highways safe.

“We write to urge the Department of Transportation to investigate the growing number of CDL mills,” Cotton and Barr wrote in the letter. “CDL mills are substandard training programs that offer quick credentials, and recent incidents and reports indicate these mills are prioritizing volume over proper safety and training requirements.”

Only days later, Duffy called out the training schools that give out CDLs like they’re candy.

“I think it begs the question, ‘Who is testing these drivers?’ A lot of these students are coming through these (CDL) schools and they can’t speak the language … Many of them don’t have the skills to operate these big rigs on the roads, but nonetheless, these schools are certifying that they are qualified. Not only that, they don’t have the documentation that they’re citizens. So, we are going to go after the CDL mills that are issuing licenses across the country.”

Barrs, who was confirmed as FMCSA’s leader in early October, drove home the message to CDL training schools that fail to comply with the agency’s safety standards.

“If you are not following the rules, we’re going to make sure we’re going to put you out of business,” Barrs said. “We’re going to come after you.”

DOT and FMCSA also have their eyes on the trucking companies that hand keys over to truck drivers who can’t speak English or meet other requirements.

“We also are diving into the companies that hire these drivers who may not have a license, who may not have a lawfully issued license, or do not speak the language,” Duffy said. “Companies will be held (accountable). So, we’re using every tool we have in our toolbox to make sure that states comply.”

Driver shortage myth

For decades, the American Trucking Associations has claimed there is a drastic shortage of truck drivers. And for decades, OOIDA has maintained that those claims are false.

In recent years, multiple studies have confirmed that OOIDA was right: there is no driver shortage, and any market tightness could be fixed by increasing wages.

Even so, ATA continued to cry driver shortage to push for policies such as lowering the interstate driving age to 18, making trucks bigger and heavier, and streamlining the CDL process. Just this past July, at a Senate Surface Transportation Committee hearing, ATA President Chris Spear kept the driver shortage narrative going.

“Self-serving factless claims that there is no driver shortage undermine the serious work of this committee,” Spear said.

For years, many lawmakers and regulators have tossed around the phrase “driver shortage” as if it were a fact.

But Duffy and Barrs are sending a much different message.

“I do not buy the idea that there are not enough American truck drivers,” Duffy said.

“If you need more drivers, make the case,” he added. “Tell people how great the industry is, how much you can make in a year by driving a truck. It will be met with a number of applicants if we need those new truckers to come in. I feel very confident that if we’re able to take out the unlawful, untrained, non-English speaking drivers, we will not have an issue on our roadways. We will not have issues with our deliveries. Our products will move, but they’ll move safer because we have better drivers who are driving those big rigs who have legal licenses and can actually speak the English language.”

A case for driver training

OOIDA has long advocated for increased driver training standards. With an administration open to new ways of doing things, OOIDA capitalized on the opportunity.

On Oct. 20, OOIDA submitted a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to improve truck driver training, licensing and qualifications. Those issues address several problems that occur before anyone gets a CDL.

“Simply put, far too many individuals are entering the trucking industry without the basic skills necessary to safely operate a commercial vehicle,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer stated in the letter. “Additionally, inconsistent and improper licensing processes among states have permitted hundreds of thousands of unqualified drivers to work on our nation’s roads, which has needlessly resulted in numerous fatal crashes.”

OOIDA is calling on Congress to clean up five areas of the process to obtain a CDL.

First, the Association wants to bolster the entry-level driver training standards. Currently, no behind-the-wheel hours are required. OOIDA wants a mandatory 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training before getting a CDL.

“Compared to the brief evaluation an examiner is currently required to conduct, mandatory (behind-the-wheel) training provides a greater opportunity to evaluate the skills of the entry-level driver and for the trainer to offer corrective actions,” Spencer said. “These hours expose the entry-level driver to multiple road signs and various traffic/roadway situations, giving the instructor more options to identify and correct deficiencies.”

Second, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could better use the Training Provider Registry to remove bad actors. Only a handful of the thousands of training providers have been removed or are currently recommended for removal. Additionally, it is unclear whether FMCSA is tracking where unsafe drivers are getting their training certifications.

Third, new-entrant audit requirements should be strengthened. OOIDA said that the barriers to entry are too low, allowing bad actors to come in with little-to-no resistance.

“U.S. DOT’s New Entrant Safety Audit is now conducted almost entirely online, making it more a reflection of an applicant’s ability to complete administrative paperwork rather than understanding how to operate a trucking business at the safest level,” Spencer said. “The lack of sufficient review for new entrants also allows ‘chameleon carriers’ to reenter our industry with relative ease, despite previous violations.”

Fourth, CDL exemptions and waivers need to go away. Specifically, larger carriers are getting waivers for regulations requiring a CDL holder to be in the front seat when a permit holder is behind the wheel. OOIDA stated that these waivers fly in the face of safety.

Lastly, the Association is calling for more oversight and accountability for third-party CDL testing providers. Although there are regulations overseeing third-party skills examiners, no such rules exist for knowledge examiners.

While the Oct. 20 letter was to members of Congress, the DOT is clearly taking notice. The news conference held by Duffy and Barrs was only 10 days later.

“Secretary Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Barrs are right to crack down on CDL mills and the trucking companies that rely on unqualified drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said.

“Years of misguided ‘driver shortage’ policies have flooded America’s roadways with poorly trained newcomers operating 80,000-pound trucks, and innocent motorists are paying the price. Trucking is a skilled profession, not cheap labor. We applaud the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring standards in trucking that will not only save lives but help improve professionalism in our industry.” LL

Land Line Associate Editor Tyson Fisher contributed to this article.