Welcome to the Inaugural His & Hers Debate LIFE! He’s Eddy and I am Missy and together we are tackling hot-button industry topics!

Super brief introduction for those that do not know us, we both are company drivers for the same company. I started my driving career, oh, shall we say, mid-life? Yes, I will call it mid-life. After almost two decades in the corporate world, and at forty-five years old I made the change. I have never been happier. Eddy came to the industry as soon as legally possible. And based on his experience and massive number of accomplishments, I would say he is a natural. He is one of the smartest people I have met in this industry to date, and the conversations we have had since connecting at work, has led us to this point. I will leave it to Eddy to fill you in on the rest.

As a member of the Trucking Life tribe, and working on creating added content, a fantastic idea was born: Those over the road discussions, and different points of view? We want to share them with you. Now, I will say we agree on a lot of topics. Maybe not for the same reasons, but we still agree on the outcome. But there are times when we are on the opposite side of the spectrum. And I like the civility I have found in this coworker and friend. As an ‘odd couple ’of sorts, we will bring these topics to you, and encourage a civil, meaningful dialog among friends, coworkers, and online community. This new forum is meant to be a bridge to both sides of the debate. No ugliness, no hate, but an understanding of both sides.

Plans may change, just as our lives do daily, and we plan to adapt to this fluid movement we are starting. We will start a poll on Facebook on a Tuesday. Pick your poison, I mean side. And if you want to go a step further, email us and tell us why you have that opinion. In this new frontier of civility, we not only will write about our stance and the facts to back up our opinions, but we will also include your opinions and thoughts as well.

The brotherhood/sisterhood that was a beautiful thing of the past, can and should be revived. Or at least that is my opinion. Before we tackle our first topic of the year, let us hear from Eddy, and his valued wisdom!

 

Thanks for the lovely introduction Missy, and for the record I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. As for my own background, I’ve been many things in my life, from student to soldier, from salesman to business management, from driver to instructor. In my trucking career I’ve achieved many accomplishments such as a Master Instructor title from the CVTA, and a Master Heavy Truck Driver certification from the Department of Labor. As a CDL instructor I’ve trained hundreds of students who’ve gone on to become some the best drivers on the road. Currently, as an OTR driver for one of the top carriers in the country, I’ve met a coworker who happens to be a wonderful person and who’s made a dear friend over the time we’ve known each other. I’m extremely grateful for Missy’s initiative to invite me to the Trucking Life tribe, and I’m very much looking forward to debating her and picking her beautiful and hilarious brain on a regular basis. So now, I happily get to add “blogger” to the list of things I’ve done in my life.

Going forward, please be aware that all opinions expressed in our blog posts are simply our own and are formed via our life experiences, our trusted sources of knowledge, and our values. They do not represent the interests of our employer, or our content’s host, nor do they have any influence over us. We take journalistic integrity and independence VERY seriously.

We promise to always be open and honest with our readers, and as we endeavor to cover some very serious and controversial topics that are gripping our very divided country and industry. We hope you understand the vulnerable position Missy and I assume when we make our honest and potentially controversial opinions public. To piggyback on what Missy said above, while we welcome feedback of all forms from our listeners, we ask that you keep all conversations with us constructive and civil. Opinions are formed from facts, and facts are incontrovertible. Debates are argued with facts, not emotions or what you “feel” is true. Please read our posts with an open mind, be open to reading something from a different viewpoint than your own, be OK with someone disagreeing with you, and, I hope, be open to changing your mind as we present you with information you may not have found otherwise. Now, with all that out of the way, let’s have Missy introduce our first debate topic: the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program!

Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program

Ok folks, let’s face it, with all things new in this world, what do we do? Before reviewing the facts or looking at all the data or documentations, we instantly form an opinion. It is human nature, and most of us are guilty of this. Keeping this in mind, the newest ‘gripe and grumble’ of the industry: Allowing eighteen- to twenty-year-old individuals behind the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler. Ok, I should call it by its official name: Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program. For those unfamiliar with this portion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was passed in Congress, here is the section of the bill we are discussing today: H.R. 3684, Title III- Motor Carrier Safety, Section 23022.

My immediate response to drivers under the age of twenty-one? Not just no, but heck no!

As a mother of three grown children, I still remember both of my sons teenage driving records. Having liability-only insurance on the two pick-up trucks my sons drove in high school, was not a clever idea. I learned the hard way. Surprisingly, my now twenty-two-year-old daughter has a

pristine and spotless motor vehicle record. I guess I should not say ‘surprisingly,’ she did not drive like her brothers. Most 18-year old’s have less than two years of driving experience. Farm kids do not count in that statistic. As a mother and a middle-aged woman entering this industry late in life, I also think of the immense amount of responsibility that comes with holding a Commercial Driver’s License. We have an 80,000-pound bomb under our control that can take out any number of people and property in a split second.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos immediately comes to mind. He was twenty-six when his brakes failed going down Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado. The result was four killed, many more injured, twenty-eight vehicles destroyed, and he was convicted of twenty-seven counts, including vehicular homicide. Was immaturity, lack of experience, and shady business practices among the reasons for this tragedy? I would say ‘yes.’ And this guy was twenty-six.

I’ve argued against decreasing the age requirement and the age old saying, ‘they are old enough to fight for this country, but not old enough to (insert the current argument theme here) comes up, more times than not. In this case, yes, I think giving a CDL to an eighteen-year-old is completely different than one joining the military. My rebuttal to this argument: the military takes young men and women and breaks them down. They break down to rebuild. Rebuild that young man or woman into a soldier. A fighter. A person who can work under pressure, under stress, never falter. What you get is a mature, responsible, brother or sister who has ‘got your six.’ Someone who will defend this country with their life. Someone who will protect you as you come under fire. I have sent those two sons off myself. One Army, one Navy. The sons I sent off, came through as men I was proud to call my sons.

But in this industry? We have lost the brotherhood of old years ago. Our industry chews up and spits out those with thin skin and weak minds. “He must have got his CDL in a Cracker Jack box,” is heard most days among grumpy old timers. We no longer help and mentor past the required training period. Rather than hopping out of the cab and helping a new driver struggling with backing into a parking spot, we stop, record, and upload a video of his green-ness and rookie mistakes for likes and comments online.

In today’s age, Tic Tok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram have made millions ‘internet’ famous. And sometimes famous for the wrong reasons. Could this be an issue with young CDL holders? I do not know. But I do know the level of maturity for ‘most’ people under the age of twenty-one is suspect at best. Is our industry ready for a ‘pilot program’ such as this?

 

Just in case you’re skipping around this article, here’s a quick introduction to the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program (or SDAPP): it’s essentially a science experiment that the Department of Transportation is mandated to perform by Congress (through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 or IIJA) to see whether 18-20 year olds are as safe and effective at the job of interstate commercial driving as the average new driver who’s 21 or older. People aged 18-20 years old are already allowed to drive in intrastate commerce but aren’t allowed across state lines. Certain industry lobbying groups have been pushing for this pilot program for a while, and now that it’s in a piece of signed legislation, it may finally happen for real. The program calls for 3,000 initial trainees to participate in the

study, there are numerous requirements and restrictions aimed at keeping both the trainees and the public safe. These include things like a minimum number of hours spent in training, how the trucks they drive need to be equipped with more advanced safety features, and reporting requirements that should identify unsafe driving patterns and remove those individuals from the study.

Now, bottom line is this: I’m against the SDAPP but my reasons are slightly different than you might expect. You see, I love scientific research and study, I hate the argument that things can’t change because then we wouldn’t do things the way we always did them. This line of thinking has only ever slowed the rate of our society’s progress. I also really believe in young people. For as long as people have been able to write down their thoughts there has been the older generation complaining that the younger generation is terrible. I’ve held several management positions for large corporations, and I’ve always been the young guy in the room whose words weren’t respected or listened to mostly because I’m a “****ing millennial”. I know how much it sucks to be fully capable of doing something but weren’t allowed to because older people didn’t believe in you, and those memories are still fresh for me. So with that said I’m against the SDAPP for the following reasons: it’s a solution in search of a problem, it doesn’t address the real problems that the industry faces, and it unfairly exploits young people.

Here’s the deal: the SDAPP exists as a way to help fix the “driver shortage” crisis that the industry has been grappling with for decades. The thinking is that if we expanded the potential pool of eligible drivers this would open the flood gates and ease some of the supply chain crunch we’ve been experiencing. However, here’s a cold hard fact: there is no driver shortage. There are currently more Americans with active Class A and B CDLs in their wallets than there are commercial trucks needing to be driven. However, this industry has turned into a meat grinder, where we hire literally anyone regardless of their qualifications, provide them with training that is marginally effective at best, pay them wages that are honestly a pittance for the level of work being asked of them, they service customers that treat them like second class citizens by requiring them to work in dangerous conditions , denying them the use of a bathroom, and not allowing them to park and rest even if there’s plenty of room to do so. Any driver that survives their first year is almost a statistical anomaly. Many of them leave with the same sentiment: it’s just not worth it.

The problem we actually face is a retention problem. Many people can put up with a job with tough working conditions, but they have to do it for the right reasons. For a lot of truckers, that reason is money. Trucking is often advertised as a gateway to a quality middle class lifestyle. The truth is the hyper competitive nature of the freight market has pushed rates too low, and too little of that money is going to the driver after brokers and carriers get their cuts. While everything I’ve said on this subject thus far seems deeply troubling and problematic, the mega carrier executives and industry lobbyists don’t think so. For them, the current situation of high turnover is fine. Even when freight rates are extremely low, they can lean on their inexperienced workforce, continue to stagnate their wages, and remain profitable while also paying themselves fairly exorbitant wages. It works for them, and they have no financial incentive to change.

The SDAPP takes these issues I’ve outlined above and perpetuates and exacerbates them to the extreme. Let’s be clear, the only carriers that are going to be looking to hire these young drivers are the mega carriers. No commercial insurance company servicing a smaller carrier is going to want to assume the liability of insuring an 18 year old driver operating in interstate commerce. Mega carriers who self insure their fleets will. They have the most to gain from this project’s success. All of the tactics that

they’ve used on the 21 and over new and inexperienced drivers are going to work extremely well on the younger apprentices. They’re going to promise them financial stability by inflating their potential earnings in their advertising, they’re going to provide them with a marginally effective training program (although I’ll admit the SDAPP has some good requirements for who can provide the training that I wish would be implemented industry wide), they’re going to be pressured to drive when/where they don’t feel safe or comfortable, and when they eventually cause some sort of damage (keep in mind almost all drivers regardless of their age have some sort of accident their first year) it’ll be all their fault and the industry at large will point at their age as to why they’re struggling, not taking into account that the vast majority of drivers don’t make it past their first year. Meanwhile, the mega carriers hiring them will make a killing through the government kickbacks they’re going to get from hiring and training them as well as underpaying them and justifying it by claiming how expensive it was to hire them. Let’s not also forget that it’s very likely that as these apprentices quit after several months they’ll also likely be sent a bill for the cost of the training, saddling them with thousands of dollars of debt and ruining their credit scores at the most financially vulnerable times of their lives.

It’s not fair to the apprentices, they’re essentially being used by industrial elites to perpetuate the cycle of poor labor practices that have kept them wealthy at the expense of countless would-be professional drivers across the country. Instead of widening the pool of incoming recruits, drivers need to organize and demand reforms that will increase rates and wages to the extent necessary to retain current experienced drivers, attract sidelined experienced drivers back to the industry, and give recruiting companies the ability to be more selective in offering job offers to more qualified candidates. Yes, raising shipping rates will increase the cost of consumer goods, but as a country we have to understand that it’s unpatriotic to accept low cost goods when it’s at the detriment of others. Unfortunately, the same corporations that stand to benefit from the SDAPP’s success are the same ones that are most vehemently opposed to drivers organizing.

 

I love Eddy’s perspective on this. He is just a few years older than my sons, and has had a bird’s eye view of the industry from a totally different angle than me. His analytical brain amazes me, and I love the way he expresses his feelings. (We are gonna have a great time blogging together!). To be honest, I feel quite dumb compared to his intelligent and thoughtful assessments. But we are who we are, and I like the challenge. In a short decade of time, Eddy has worn many hats. And rocked every one. This industry is better for it. We need more ‘Eddys’ in this world. We need more Eddys to stand up and have a voice. We need to shape and mentor and mold this younger generation of drivers. If this litmus test of a bill produces a positive experience or not, the outcome remains to be seen. Even without a CDL holder under the age of 21, this industry is changing. It’s up to us to take these changes and move forward. We are so bogged down with restrictions and regulations that are supposed to make this industry ‘safer’ or better. We need to use our voices to make sure this happens.

 

Alright, since Missy and I agreed this week, it’s time for one of us to play devil’s advocate for the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program or SDAPP. Missy and I thought it was a bad idea with some grave ramifications both for the industry and for the young adults participating in the program. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all doom and gloom. It’s possible that some really good could come of it.

First, let’s talk about what I think the legislation (Section 23022 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA) gets right. It establishes two probationary periods totaling 400 hours where the apprentice is accompanied in the passenger seat by an experienced driver who’s required to have over 5 years of experience and a safe driving record, and the apprentice is required to drive a truck equipped with certain features such as a collision mitigation system with active braking, a forward facing camera system, a 65 MPH governor, and an automatic transmission. The apprentice will be evaluated by their carrier at both the 120 and 280 hour marks for proficiency in certain aspects of professional driving before being allowed to drive interstate solo. This is a pretty robust training requirement. Arguments can be made either way whether the equipment requirements are a good idea but my current truck meets those requirements and I have the opinion that it’s the easiest truck I’ve ever driven. Most over the road training programs allow time spent operating the truck as a team count towards meeting training requirements, but here the trainer is required to be in the passenger seat which is great. Also the sample size of the program is relatively small, only 3,000 drivers. Big enough to run their pilot program, but not so big to allow mega carriers to start hiring younger drivers carte blanche.

 

Next, let’s discuss the young adults looking to become apprentices. We can’t dismiss the pilot program simply because the people considered are too young. We have to keep in mind that as long as history has been recorded, there have been older generations looking down their noses at the younger generation. Records have been found dating back to Ancient Greece of older people complaining that the younger generation was too lazy, spending too much time drinking wine and reading. We have to remember that anyone who is now 18 years old was born after 9/11, after the internet was ubiquitous in every house, they were young children living through the Great Recession, and they’re coming of age now in the midst of a global pandemic. Many of them have never known peace or stability, and throughout their lives they’ve had access to the entirety of our species knowledge at their fingertips. They are smarter and more resilient than we give them credit for. I have no doubt that there are many young adults that, given proper training and guidance, would make excellent professional drivers.

 

Leading in from my last point, we should also consider that there are many young people that are not only capable to do the job, but there are some that just REALLY want to. Some kids grow up watching trucks driving down the road and thinking they’re the coolest things in the world and fantasize about how fun it would be to drive one. Some grow up in households where multiple generations were drivers and after growing up around trucks all they want to do is be able to drive them like their parents or grandparents do. Unfortunately for children in this situation, they’re not allowed to go right into OTR

truck driving right out of high school, they have to wait until they’re 21. Sure they COULD go into intrastate driving, but these jobs are usually for smaller Class B vehicles and aren’t known for paying well. Therefore they usually have to find some other type of job to support themselves until they’re old enough. If the SDAPP is successful and the age requirement is repealed, there won’t be that age barrier any more.

 

Lastly, for many 18-20 year olds that already drive commercial intrastate freight, it simply makes sense. For example, let’s say there’s a 19 year old Class A intrastate driver in Texas who’s already got a year of experience and a clean driving record. In many circles, if he was over 21 he would already be considered an experienced driver able to work for most companies. In this scenario, it’s perfectly legal for him to pick up a load in El Paso and drive it over 800 miles to Beaumont, but if the load instead needed to go 60 more miles to Lake Charles, LA, its illegal for that driver to complete the trip. Opening the age requirement for interstate commerce would be an economic boom for many small regional carriers looking for local drivers to service their freight, especially for the smaller states in the northeast.

 

There we have it, our first devil’s advocate piece. Every driver I’ve personally spoken to about this program has been universally opposed to it for various reasons including skyrocketing insurance rates, declining freight rates, increased accidents and fatalities, etc. However it’s worth mentioning that not everything in the legislation is universally bad. Honestly, the training requirements are pretty extensive. I’m also really happy to see that there are accountability requirements as well, where apprentices who display consistently unsafe driving behavior will be removed from the program. Not every industry change is inherently bad, good things can come from this program, and I encourage all readers to keep an open mind as more news and results are published about this program.