ATA asks feds to allow trucking companies that participated in pilot to continue onboarding under-21 truck drivers

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is petitioning for an exemption that would allow certain motor carriers to continue onboarding and training truck drivers who are under 21 years of age.

ATA Points To “Positive Safety Outcomes” From Pilot

The ATA is asking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for a five year exemption from minimum age requirements for commercial vehicle drivers on behalf of motor carriers that previously participated in the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot (SDAP) program, according to a Federal Register Notice scheduled for publishing on January 28, 2026.

SDAP was an FMCSA apprenticeship pilot program that allowed drivers between the ages of 18 — 20 with an intrastate commercial driver’s license (CDL) to operate in interstate commerce under certain conditions.  

Data collection for the SDAP program began in November 2022 and ended when the program expired on November 7, 2025.

The ATA requests that carriers already approved for the SDAP program be allowed to continue onboarding and training 18- to 20-year-old apprentice drivers even through the pilot has ended.

From the Federal Register notice:

“ATA states that FMCSA’s SDAP program quarterly reports demonstrate positive safety outcomes, including millions of miles driven by program participants without reportable crashes. ATA believes that continuing the regulatory relief under an exemption would create minimal administrative burdens for FMCSA or participating motor carriers … ATA contends that the SDAP program has now generated safety data and demonstrated effective oversight, as FMCSA has exercised its authority to remove carriers or participants when necessary to ensure safety. ATA believes that because FMCSA did not end the pilot program early, the program met an equivalent level of safety to existing regulations.“

The FMCSA will accept public comments on the ATA’s exemption request after it is published in the Federal Register.

OOIDA Raises Safety Concerns About Under-21 Truck Driver Pilot Program

In December 2025, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) called on FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs to deny a previous request from the ATA to allow SDAP to continue for five more years after the program expired in November.

“Since the pilot program’s launch in January 2022, large carriers have struggled mightily to find 18, 19, and 20-year-olds interested in participating,” OOIDA told FMCSA. “Large motor carriers have long peddled the thoroughly debunked myth of a driver shortage to promote policies allowing them to hire the cheapest labor possible in order to maximize their profits.”

OOIDA also argued that allowing 18 to 20 year olds to operate commercial vehicles interstate without proper restrictions and oversight “is a needless threat to public safety.”

OOIDA instead supports the recently introduced Responsible Opportunity for Under-21 Trucking Engagement (ROUTE) Act, which would allow truck drivers under the age of 21 to cross state lines so long as they remain within 150 air-miles of their normal work reporting location.