C.R. England Commercial Learner’s Permit Holders Can Drive Without CDL Holder In Front Seat

And why can't they get a CDL in the state the terminal is in and then just transfer it over when you go on your hometime as a solo driver? That's how Prime and most other companies do it.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that unless you have your actual CDL you should not be driving without supervision.

And why can't they get a CDL in the state the terminal is in and then just transfer it over when you go on your hometime as a solo driver? That's how Prime and most other companies do it.

I don't believe the state will issue a CDL to someone from out of state. I think that's the problem. The article implied that it used to be done that way but the laws were changed. It seems that's why CR England wanted this exemption - to get things back to the way they were before the law changed.

If it weren't for Prime's pesky rule about having a passport and the ability to cross the border up north I might just head to Prime and start training again.

Guyjax,

Just an FYI, if you were to go to Prime as a lease operator, you do not have to have your passport (or your Hazmat) if you don't want to. They wanted me to get them when I was there, but the requirement was dropped when I changed to lease.

I am also considering going back to Prime when I am done with all my medical stuff. Just something to think about.

Ernie

And why can't they get a CDL in the state the terminal is in and then just transfer it over when you go on your hometime as a solo driver? That's how Prime and most other companies do it.

I don't believe the state will issue a CDL to someone from out of state. I think that's the problem. The article implied that it used to be done that way but the laws were changed. It seems that's why CR England wanted this exemption - to get things back to the way they were before the law changed.

I guess it just depends on the state. At Prime they just put the address of the Campus Inn on your license then you transfer it to your home state.

My previous employer runs their program very similarly to how CRE runs theirs. At my previous company I took a skills test (and passed) before heading out with a trainer, but I was not even close to being ready to drive unsupervised. The standards and expectations were so low it seemed anyone could have passed. The examiner wasn't even holding his clipboard during my sketchy drive test.

Knowing how trainers can be, especially the lease guys, I fear that this will be abused. This will just be a way that will enable them to team drive when they shouldn't be.

Their training program is already super short and they're clearly sending guys out solo before they should be - 3 weeks of team driving training isn't enough nor is it effective. This is not a safety-minded improvement in my opinion.

If it weren't for Prime's pesky rule about having a passport and the ability to cross the border up north I might just head to Prime and start training again.

Guyjax,

Just an FYI, if you were to go to Prime as a lease operator, you do not have to have your passport (or your Hazmat) if you don't want to. They wanted me to get them when I was there, but the requirement was dropped when I changed to lease.

I am also considering going back to Prime when I am done with all my medical stuff. Just something to think about.

Ernie

I need insurance at least at the level I have now and leasing a truck it won't happen.

It sounds like what ever concerns people have about student drivers driving before they've had enough experience, or about trainers abusing their position, have already existed long before this whole CRE permit issue. How this makes the situation so much worse is beyond me.

C.R. England says goal in driver training exemption to get qualified truck operators working sooner

Major refrigerated carrier C.R. England, one of the largest fleets in the U.S., wasgranted last week an exemption to one portion of federal rules dictating driver training. But, says C.R. England chief counsel TJ England, the exemption was not sought as an attempt to evade driver training regulations, as perceived by some, but is instead meant to help new entrant drivers start work quicker by avoiding unnecessary red tape.

“A lot of confusion exists with our exemption request,” he said this week. “People think this is an attempt to try to escape some sort of training or safety requirement or diminish training or safety — and that’s not the case at all.”

The only new entrant drivers that fall under the exemption, England says, are those who have completed all necessary skills tests and written tests and who have a commercial learner’s permit, but simply haven’t been to their home state “to stand in a line at the DMV ,” England said, to receive their CDL.

“They’ve met all the same requirements” as an actual CDL holder, he said. “There are no more requirements and no more testing. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have asked for [the exemption].”

The waiver granted to C.R. England this week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration allows new drivers, who have documentation that they’ve passed written and skills tests, to operate a commercial truck without a CDL-licensed driver-trainer in the front seat, as required by federal regulations.

The driver-trainer would still be in the vehicle, according to C.R. England’s exemption application and FMCSA’s waiver, but he or she could be in the sleeper. C.R. England said in its original application for the exemption in December, and TJ England told Overdrive this week, that the exemption will allow the fully trained, learner’s permit-holding drivers to work in a team operation until they can be routed to their home state to obtain their CDL.

England said upcoming changes to CDL issuance rules, set to go into effect July 8, make it more difficult for drivers to get to their CDL-issuing state — their home state — to receive their actual CDL card. England likened the changes to a student who goes to school outside of his or her home state, but must return home to obtain a diploma before being able to work a job.

England said while FMCSA’s intentions with the rule changes are good — reducing CDL fraud — one key “unintended consequence” limits states’ ability to grant temporary CDLs, which would allow new entrant drivers to drive and carriers to route them to their home state to receive their permanent CDL before the temporary would expire.

“We didn’t like [how the new rules] unfairly impeded out of state drivers and made it more difficult for them to get a CDL and get to work,” he said. “What we wanted was to level the playing field between in state and out of state driver applicants, so when they were qualified and had met all the standards, they were then able to drive.”