Association Launches To Take CDL Driver Training To High School Students

Notwithstanding the debate about whether there really is a truck driver shortage, one non-profit organization launched just last week to help fill the driver pool from the next generation.

Association launches to take CDL driver training to high school students

Thanks for this, Dave !

I'm definitely a proponent, giving kids this option. Driving interstate at 18 ???? Hmmmm.. on the fence, case by case; kid by kid. I'd say 'yes' with our daughter, and a 'maybe' with our son. He's not yet 18, however. . . just got some maturing to do!

Dollars to Donuts, if this were an option when my daughter graduated a few years ago, she just might have opted in. She's now a machinist, thanks to our community college/senior program.

Bet my youngest kiddo (son) would've dove in,...had it not been for homeschooling his senior year, due to Covid.

~ Anne ~

I'm with you person by person basis.

Thanks for this, Dave !

I'm definitely a proponent, giving kids this option. Driving interstate at 18 ???? Hmmmm.. on the fence, case by case; kid by kid. I'd say 'yes' with our daughter, and a 'maybe' with our son. He's not yet 18, however. . . just got some maturing to do!

Dollars to Donuts, if this were an option when my daughter graduated a few years ago, she just might have opted in. She's now a machinist, thanks to our community college/senior program.

Bet my youngest kiddo (son) would've dove in,...had it not been for homeschooling his senior year, due to Covid.

~ Anne ~

Yeah, just what I want on the road: someone not mature, less than two years driving anything with a license, piloting an 18 wheeler at a ridiculously low salary.

Another great idea from the ATA.

I have to agree with PackRat on this one. The vast majority of 18 year olds do not have the maturity to handle an 18 wheeler. Most are into video games, cell phones, social media and texting with friends. Their responsibilities are not focused on handling a 40 ton missile on today's highways but what their friends are doing on Saturday night. Think back when most of us were 18 and I bet we didn't have the ability to do this job either.

I have to agree with PackRat on this one. The vast majority of 18 year olds do not have the maturity to handle an 18 wheeler. Most are into video games, cell phones, social media and texting with friends. Their responsibilities are not focused on handling a 40 ton missile on today's highways but what their friends are doing on Saturday night. Think back when most of us were 18 and I bet we didn't have the ability to do this job either.

I was delivering boat propellers, shafts, and underwater gear (zincs) all over the state of Florida, for General Propeller Co., in a 3/4 ton Chevy 3 on the tree, with a 28' trailer.

Didn't 'need' a CDL for under 26K, but would've obtained mine, if needed. I was intrastate , so .. could have.

~ Anne ~

Unfortunately, common sense isn't that common anymore - the lawyers have hunted it to extinction.

Most adults could figure out if an 18 year old was mature enough to handle that kind of responsibility after spending some time with them. In today's world the ones that weren't ready won't just quietly wait until they turn 21 then try again. They will lawyer up and sue you for age discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and whatever else their lawyer can fit into the court filing. It would be cheaper to let them wreck a truck and buy a new one than to pay the legal fees to defend yourself.