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Teen Truck Driving
Allowing teens (18-20) to drive trucks has become an extremely HOT topic! Due to the shortage of drivers, the U.S. trucking industry has proposed that Congress lift the restriction that commercial drivers be 21 or older. Since teen truck drivers tend to have a more flexible schedule, this would be one solution to help with the shortage of qualified drivers and reduce recruiter costs. On the flip side, insurance would be higher for these drivers and the risk of accidents may increase due to the lack of driving experience.
More and more drivers are spending more time at home, getting ready to retire, or are just plain tired of all the new limitations within the industry. The new, younger candidates are at a stage where they are taking the baby steps towards a career and would be more willing to accept the demands of being an over the road driver. With the commercial driver barrier at age 21, this 18-20 year old bracket may currently be leaning towards starting in construction or another field. What some people may not know is that many states already allow drivers between the ages of 18-21 drive a truck within the state's borders. This means companies are already willing to pay for things like the additional insurance, in order to have more drivers in the commercial driver pool. According to an article written by Deborah Lockridge from Truckinginfo.com, there are pilot programs that involve a graduated licensing system that helps educate the young drivers.
Overall, with the right education and programs integrated with obtaining a CDL license, I believe that allowing young adults age 18-20 may actually be helpful to the trucking/commercial industry. It will be interesting to see the final decision!
Broker's Assistant, Atlanta
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Robyn Scott is a Broker's Assistant that started with the Allen Lund Company in January of 2015. Scott attended Florida Atlantic University and has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing.
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| About Allen Lund Company: Specializing as a national third-party transportation broker with nationwide offices and 400 employees, the Allen Lund Company works with shippers and carriers across the nation to transport dry, refrigerated (specializing in produce), and flatbed freight; additionally, the Allen Lund Company has an international division, which is licensed by the FMC as an OTI-NVOCC #019872NF, and a logistics and software division, ALC Logistics.
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