Raise the bar.
Whether we’re talking about entry-level truck drivers, motor carriers, brokers or CDL training schools, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association contends that the standards should be high.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s highway bill includes several provisions that aim to increase the barrier to entry for the industry.
Along with funding for truck parking, restroom access for truck drivers, a ban on predatory lease-purchase arrangements and efforts to stop cargo theft and chameleon carriers, the provisions to strengthen standards are among the reasons that OOIDA has called the BUILD America 250 Act the “most pro-trucker highway bill in recent memory.”
Motor carrier-entrant standards
HR8870 would require the establishment of a transportation rulemaking committee to set minimum knowledge standards for new carriers.
Specifically, the provision would ask the committee “to develop findings and recommendations on the necessity of establishing minimum requirements for entities seeking to obtain registration from the department as a motor carrier of property or passengers.”
The bill would also require the DOT inspector general to review the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program.
Broker standards
Under the BUILD America 250 Act, brokers would not be immune to higher standards.
Within two years of the highway bill being signed into law, the DOT secretary would be required to issue a final rule implementing requirements related to experience or qualifications for freight brokers and freight forwarders.
The transportation secretary also would be required to provide the House T&I Committee with frequent status updates until a final rule is issued.
CDL standards
For years, OOIDA has criticized the lack of required behind-the-wheel training hours in FMCSA’s entry-level driver training rule.
A provision in the highway bill would move toward addressing that glaring hole.
The bill would create incentives for CDL schools that include at least 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training in their curriculum.
While the BUILD America 250 Act would reward training schools that aim to ensure drivers possess all necessary skills before receiving a CDL, the bill would also crack down on bad training schools.
The provision would require the DOT to establish a process to receive complaints about noncompliant CDL trainers and to remove them from the training registry.
The road to passage
Although the House T&I’s highway bill is full of pro-trucker provisions, there is still work to be done before it is signed into law.
The BUILD America 250 Act must advance on the House floor and in the Senate before it can be sent to the White House. There’s also a time clock as the current highway bill expires in September.
OOIDA is asking truck drivers to visit its Fighting For Truckers website and send a message to their lawmakers in support of the BUILD America 250 Act and to raise the bar in trucking. LL
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