son of witless

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/30/congress-mulls-lowering-age-requirement-for-truck-drivers-to-prevent-national-shortage.html

I find this article to be quite amusing because I have a CDL. It seems to me that the government has done it's best to create this shortage by the way they have gone out of their way to royally screw anyone with a CDL.

karpenter Loc: Headin' Fer Da Hills !!

Well, Maybe...
But There's A 30Million Shortfall Across All The Trades

Errybuddy Gotta Go To Cauwlege And Get That All Important Liberal Arts Degree
With A Masters In Ethnic Studies And Pop Culture Sociology
There's A Future In That Stuff,
Or Universities Wouldn't Offer The Courses !!

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

this is something that has interested me for some time..

When I had a boom biz, I had to have a CDL... class "B"... not for 16 wheeler..

even in the 90s we had a shortage of drivers..

Now, as you point out it is much more pressing..

Now, as you know, I can worry about near anything..

So with the advent of self driving care and trucks, what will the future be for truck drivers.

Deliveries have been made on a test basis with driver less trucks. in Europe if not the US..

At time it seem that all technology is aimed and eliminating the working person..

Maybe, a ride along rule, such as the RR had for the firemen on train crews who were not needed with the end of steam engines..

As you say all of the trades are in great need of trained workers.. A good field for many of our young people.. and available training with a bit of searching..

A trained worker can be paid very well while a collage education will be a struggle simply to pay for..

son of witless

I will not try to predict the future. I only know that now holding onto a CDL is tough. Every two years you must go for a physical where they ask you questions that have nothing to do with driving or your physical condition. Then you must now bring your birth certificate and sit for 3 hours in the DMV, while they do everything they can to persuade you to drop your CDL.

I am trying to add an extra endorsement onto my license and trust me that can of worms is un freaking real. Somebody is getting paid big bucks in our government to make it impossible to get new Commercial drivers.

Whether or not self driving trucks come about, in the next few years because of government stupidity, anyone who can make it through the bull crap will be paid mucho big bucks. This shortage will force employers to pay up.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

Changed abit from when I got mine.. darn near a gift.. I think my instructor (I paid for and did a training course the same day I got the CDL) put in a word for me.. I was lousy but I was passed..

I would like the shortage to drive up the pay a lot.. That is what should be the result of limiting the supply of good drivers..

do not recall that I had to show my BC, but I know I had to a few times for this and that so maybe this was one of the thats..

son of witless

I spoke to someone whose kid is going for a CDL. The written test is ridiculous. You have to just about be a diesel and truck mechanic to answer the questions. Again this is far beyond weeding out bad drivers. It is pure stupidity, but as I always say, things have to get worse, much worse before they get better. The stupidity has to produce so much pain that somebody in a position of power finally is forced to do something.

The more I see the increased requirements by the governments for even mundane occupations, the more I am sure we are ruled by the insane. A lot of this started with 911. It has morphed into bureaucratic strangulation of all things the government is regulating. We will not get better drivers, just better test takers.

Gizmo3663

Interesting. I will have to check up on the current CDL tests before I make any comments. Used to be hard, but then there is a lot to know.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

I like that very last line... I may use it one day if I can fit it in to anything..

"better test takers" can well be true..

son of witless

I include myself in that " better test takers ". I know guys who can drive circles around me, but cannot pass the written tests. I am getting to the point where even I cannot deal with the BS. Point being that they better hope these self driving trucks are perfected soon because between the excessive background tests and the questions having nothing to do with driving, I don't see how this country is going to get enough truck drivers in the next decade. Truck driving is becoming one of those jobs Americans won't do and therefor we need to import those drivers. Of course as always the requirements on them will be lowered.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

I agree with you....

son of witless

See. You and I solved that problemo. If only we could meet in the middle on the rest of them.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

So true.....