If anyone is considering obtaining a CDL, you should probably get serious about it within the next 3 years. FMCSA has a new proposal effective in 3 years that would require new CDL applicants and current CDL holders wanting to upgrade (add endorsments) to successfully complete formal classroom and behind-the-wheel driving training with an accredited institution or program before applying for the license or upgrade. Those possessing CDLs before the effective date would be OK no matter how they were obtained. Most CDL drivers I know got their licenses like I did without the cost of the formal training route.
Oh great! A bunch of truck drivers edumacted in the fine art of driving a semi! Next thing you 'll hear is there will be no more clutch in a truck because there are more drivers that can drive an automatic! This country has become obsessed with training and certificates! I am a certified diesel mechanic. I passed a 60 hour course on diesel theory back in the early 80's, but I don't think I'm a mechanic. I can run a bead, but that don't make me a welder! I repair my computer all the time to save money, but that don't mean I'm a computer specialist! I operated sound equipment for years, but have no clue as to the newer digital equipment! I guess thats my point, them future drivers might get the education to operate a commercial motor vehicle, but they won't be truck drivers until after the first 100,000 miles! That my opinion, and opinions are like rectums; everyone has one and they all stink but mine!
Sounds like another rule making life harder on the little guy, and allowing the large corporations to take advantage again.
Funny that you'd mention that, but the military started doing that well back in the late 70's. Not many clutches left in the fleet these days.
Excellent reply Rino:drinkup
Thanx for the flowers Colin Doy! I just call them as I see them! Sooner or later (which I think it will be later, much later) the people of this great country will wake up and realize that those politicians in DC are so far removed from reality! They don't realize that the median income is what we blue collar wage earners are making! They think that every one is making $80K or more a year! All of the price hikes are related to the rise in fuel costs, and corporate greed! Question; if it's costing more to buy a barrel of oil, then how can the oil companies be showing record profit? We have to pay more for fuel at the pumps, and are taking the loss in gross profits, yet the oil companies are making money. Things that make me wonder where the Americian peoples heads are! Thats why the independant is a doom critter! They don't want us the people to realize they are making deals and money off the backs of the little guy! THey don't realize it's the little guy, the indpendant that makes the economy work! Its the little guy that poses competition which is good for th econsumer! If no one is buying, the shelve stay stocked longer! That means less deliveries, which means less production, which means less truck drivers! The Americian Trucker holds the life line of this country in his/her hands. They can make things run smoothly, or strangle the commerce right in the logistics! I hope the drivers never realize the power they have. I am a firm believer in "absolute power corrupts absolutely"!
good to know. thinking bout trying to get mine cdl here soon. but... i just got a DUI will that be a problem after i get my license back?
Finally got mine last week so that is a relief.
I saw on a post at another website that this rule has already been implemented in Washington state. It looks like there may be less than 3 years before this happens depending upon which state you live in. Once one state adopts it, others are likely to follow soon. I bet the truck driving schools are sure liking this one.
Who do you think lobbied so hard to have it implemented. Its kinda like 3M and their tape. I mean, its okay cuz deep down I know, the government is here to help us!
Washington has done it already. After July of 2008, 160 hours of instruction needs to be attained before you can get your CDL. I'd like to get mine now, but I just don't have the time. My union offers CDL training at the grounds and they require all apprentices to have a CDL within a year of starting the apprenticeship, I'll leave it up to them to get me the training I need if they really want us to have it. If I wasn't going union, I'd be a little more worried about it, I'm sure they're not going to drop the CDL requirement, therefore they'll make sure we get the training we need to get licensed up.
I'm bringing my son for his march 10th. They make it hard enough with parralell parking, and what not. I've never done that in my life and never plan on it.
Kind of sounds like it was wrote by the truck driving schools. ointhead
I think it is a good idea. Where does a person legally get practice driving a semi or other big truck. You are saying they aren't a driver until they get some experience but are willing to let them drive if they can pass little test. I have a chauffers license, Class C, in some places and all I had to do was pass a 10 question written test. I am thinking I want to move up to a class B but don't know how i can legally get some real experience because I knoe a tandem drives different than a single axle. Jerry
This one was started by one of those "i know someone that was killed in an accident with a big truck, even though it wasnt the big trucks fault we should put more rules on them" groups! The trucking schools dont like this idea because with the way it is now, the cost of going to school is somewhat within reach of most people. They can turn out "Newly Trained and Licensed" drivers in 3-4 weeks. What this is going to do is put the cost of getting a CDL out of reach of alot of people. Not sure if the additonal training is a good thing. I got my CDL without going to school (unless the school of hard knocks from the ole man counts), but there are ALOT of new drivers who come out of the CDL mills who are no where ready to drive on the open roads alone. Many are just comfortable enough to past the road test (they have only driven the route 50 times before the test), have no clue what makes a truck work (this 3rd pedal makes a great foot rest), how to read a map ("its okay, they have a GPS in the truck"), or how to even get into a truck stop to find the fuel island (what do you mean were all supposed to go in the same direction)!
x2x2
I've been on and off the road for more than 18 of the last 27 years, and I would submit: that instead of there being a requirement for some formal education for a CDL, ALL applicants (new AND renewals) should have to pass a "common sense test". Some of the stunts I see drivers out on the road doing, I'm not surprised that the public image of truck drivers is what it is. For instance, how many times have you seen one truck driver, following his "buddy" and there not be more than 100' between the bumpers? I know it's hard to get the experience without a license, and almost impossible to get a license without experience, but perhaps it just isn't hard enough? I remeember seeing an ad in a "Trucker Magazine" a few years back, the ad stated that with the improvements and additions of autoshift (& automatic) transmissions, there was an immediate 15% increase in the available driver pool! I say: be careful what you wish for!
Jhill; DOn't get me wrong now. We all have to start somewhere. I don't have a problem with teaching someone the ropes. It's the damm fool stuff that these younger "bullet proof" drivers do. I had a driver in a semi pull out in front of me twice while I was about to pass him. He was going around slower traffic, and weaving between the 2 lane of I-76 out here in Ohio, passing all the slower vehicled in the right lane just daring anyone in the left lane to pass him! He'd start left then signal at 65 + MPH! This driver was ina hurry, and nothing was getting in his way! In the past 2 years we had 2 drivers leave their beds up and go down the highway! Needles to say once they came to a sign, they were reminded! On a parking lot job I radioed with good radio that I was backing up, I waited for a moment for a reply, and bang hit one of our trucks screwing both tarps! If I would have waited until I seen the truck that I couldn't see, I wouldn't have hit him! I knew he was there, bur I wanted to get back on the road for the next load! There is a difference between making mistakes, and risking life and limb! There was 3incidents back at the end od the last decade that stick in my mind. A guy that couldn't speak english, took a truck he was ordered to, with bad brakes, He ran over a grandma and 3 grandbabies all pre-schoolers, and killed them all. He's in prison right now because he didn't know he could refuse the truck, and still keep his job! Another driver was doing 20 MPH, with a legal load, he had 12 tons on a Ford L longnose. The mom had just picked up her kids at the pool, and puled out in front of the driver. He tried to stop, but there just wasn't enough room! He killed mom and the the front passenger, and the rear drivers side passenger! This man lived by the yard for the company I worked for at the time! His yard was always like a golf course. Well he went off the deep end! for weeks he'd come out in his backyard in his underwear and robe open, He hadn't shaved, or changed clothes in weeks, He looked like he'd been on a month long drunk! He went over the line. He blamed himself, even though the accident cops cleared him of all responibility! Then the last one, 2 seasons ago this summer. A laborer was sweeping the concrete debris from an expansion joint in a bridge. The laborer tripped and fell while a dump truck was backing up. The woman laborer died 6 hours after the accident in the hospital form internal injuries! Just an accident! Yep, we are more than just steering wheel holders. There is a lot of responsibility in driving OTR, and more driving an asphalt bucket! OTR driver are a different breed than those of us who drive a dump. And the craziest of all ar the frameless semi dump drivers! Those things go over when the wind changes, and I have seen this happen first handed!
Seems like just another way to make money off of the working class person!