OFFICE OF SEN. MORAN
WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), along with U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), introduced the Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE-Safe) Act, S. 3352, to address the driver shortage in the trucking and logistics industry, and enhance safety training and job opportunities for young truckers.
The apprenticeship program established by the DRIVE-Safe Act would require young drivers to complete at least 400 hours of on-duty time and 240 hours of driving time with an experienced driver in the cab with them. All trucks used for training in the program must be equipped with safety technology including active braking collision mitigation systems, a video event capture system and a speed governor set at 65 miles per hour or below.
Due to some expressed concern regarding the safety and intent of the DRIVE-Safe Act, below is a fact sheet to highlight the rigorous training all new drivers under this bill would need to complete prior to licensing:
MYTH #1: “It obviously is going to reduce safety.” This bill will make the roads less safe because there is not adequate training for 18-year-old drivers.
FACT:
- It is already legal in all 48 contiguous states for 18-year-olds to drive trucks intrastate; this bill would simply allow these drivers to cross state lines with the commodities they are already transporting intrastate upon the completion of the rigorous training program.
- It is currently legal for an 18-year-old Kansas City, Kan.-based truck driver to deliver goods 400 miles away to Goodland, Kan., and yet they are forbidden from crossing the Missouri River to make a delivery 10 miles away.
- Further, those participating in this program would be required to complete a minimum of 400 hours of training and meet 10 performance benchmarks before being allowed to operate trucks interstate.
FACT:
- There is no evidence to suggest younger drivers who have completed this training are less safe than their older counterparts. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the last five years for which we have data (2012-2016),[1] 16-20 year old male drivers – of both passenger and commercial motor vehicles – were less likely to be involved in fatal crashes than their 21-24 year old counterparts, and male drivers make up 94 percent of the truck-driver industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- This bill would require training to occur on trucks equipped with industry-leading safety technologies endorsed by the National Transportation Safety Board, like active braking collision mitigation systems, which significantly reduce the frequency and severity of crashes.
FACT:
- Insurers have expressed a willingness to work with carriers to get younger drivers insured, so long as carriers comply with the requirements of this bill and demonstrate meaningful investments in safety.
FACT:
- The industry’s average workforce age, 49, is seven years older than the average American worker. The industry will need to hire 890,000 new workers over the next decade to keep up with demand, and according to the Federal Reserve’s July 2018 report of economic conditions across the country, half of all 12 Federal Reserve Districts reported trucking capacity and truck-driver shortages as an issue, despite this job being one of the most in-demand and with the biggest pay hikes of 2018.
MYTH #5: This bill will only benefit large companies who want to “pay a starter wage and help the company make more money.”
FACT:
- All carriers, large and small, will benefit from a stronger labor market. Additionally, this will create good-paying job opportunities for high school graduates that were previously unavailable to them.
[1] U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report Tables: Table 62 Driver Involvement Rates per 100,000 Licensed Drivers by Age, Sex, and Crash Severity, https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/tsftables/tsfar.htm.
