Granting the American Trucking Associations’ petition for under-21 drivers would “contradict” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s mission, a truck safety group told the agency.
ATA petitioned FMCSA for an exemption to relaunch an under-21 truck driver pilot program. Current regulations allow 18- to 20-year-old truck drivers to operate intrastate, but CDL holders must be at least 21 years old to cross state lines.
FMCSA published ATA’s request for a five-year exemption on Jan. 27 and gave the public 30 days to comment. That comment period runs through Friday, Feb. 27.
The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which opposes ATA’s petition, filed comments on Feb. 18.
“Consistent and compelling research indicates that younger drivers have higher crash rates than older drivers,” the truck safety group wrote. “The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, citing numerous studies, has stated that age is a strong risk factor for truck crash involvement. In fact, age is the most important factor in the high rate of involvement of younger commercial motor vehicle drivers in fatal crashes.”
Advocates cited statistics showing that truck drivers aged 19 and 20 are six times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash.
The original pilot program, which ended in November 2025, never attracted big numbers.
As of the end of 2025’s second quarter, FMCSA reported that it had received 211 motor carrier applications and that 62 had been approved. Meanwhile, only 80 applications had been received from apprentice drivers. Out of those, only 42 completed both probationary periods of the program.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has called the program a “failure” and told FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs that ATA’s exemption request should be denied.
Advocates agreed, noting that the 80 drivers operated “less than 0.001% of the miles driven by large trucks in a single year.”
“In FMCSA’s enabling statute, Congress explicitly directed that in carrying out its duties, the administration shall consider the assignment and maintenance of safety as the highest priority …” the Advocated for Auto and Highway Safety wrote. “Granting the application would contradict the agency’s mission.”
How to comment
To weigh in on ATA’s exemption request, you can click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter FMCSA-2025-1117. As of Feb. 23, FMCSA had received 32 comments. LL
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