Vlogger ‘Smart-Trucking.com’ makes the case for trucking companies to put more skilled, qualified truck drivers on the road.
From Smart-Trucking.com:
“Putting higher skilled, better qualified truck drivers behind the wheel, on our highways, is just not going to happen, unless some solid changes are made to the licensing process.
1. Mega carriers and private trucking companies should not be allowed to train and license drivers. Their goals are self serving. They are not overly concerned with turning out a polished product…a safe well trained new CDL driver. Instead, they are concerned with minimal training to get a new driver behind the wheel and on the road to get their freight delivered, ASAP. Fast tracking the training process is not a safe practice. Licensing should be controlled by a government or higher body, in order that all drivers should meet the same standards and skill level.
2. Simplify the Air Brake Endorsement Test. The test should include what is beneficial and helpful to the truck driver, rather than focusing on requiring the driver to know about air brake function that they’ll never need to know. The time wasted on this part of the test, could be better utilized by the driver in training spending time behind the wheel, getting practice where it’s needed most.
3. Truck Driving should be a licensed trade. A well structured mentoring process would certainly raise the standard of the average CDL driver. Driver training is an ongoing process, not one that merely consists of a few weeks training, then on the road. For the best results, it’s an ongoing process, to produce a highly skilled safe driver.”