U.S. to let teens drive big rigs in test program to help ease supply chain shortage......Ummmm

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://abc7chicago.com/teens-drive-big-rigs-semi-trucks/11483898/

DETROIT -- The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program.

Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old, but an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease supply chain backlogs would let 18-to-20-year-old truckers drive outside their home states.

The pilot program, detailed Thursday in a proposed regulation from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, would screen the teens, barring any with driving-while-impaired violations or traffic tickets for causing a crash.

But safety advocates say the program runs counter to data showing that younger drivers get in more crashes than older ones. They say it's unwise to let teenage drivers be responsible for rigs that can weigh 80,000 pounds and cause catastrophic damage when they hit lighter vehicles.

*snip*

[a kennedy]

1. They drive cars way to fast.......oh yah, this is just a horrible, horrible idea.

I’d trust auto pilots more then teens.

[Budi]

2. God forbid.. Rigs weighing 80,000 pounds

😟
Kyle Rittenhouse is a teen. Right?

[MyOwnPeace]

8. THE 'LINE' of the entire post!

"Kyle Rittenhouse is a teen. Right?"

Have we lost ALL sanity?

[Budi]

22. 1st one I thought of. Oh ya, & the teens today that brought police to lockdown N Tx Denton HS's.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/three-denton-high-schools-on-lockdown-due-to-unsubstantiated-threats/2862054/%3famp

2 Detained After 5 Denton Schools Locked Down Due to ‘Unsubstantiated Threats'

Two people have been detained at two different Denton high schools after five schools in Denton were locked down Wednesday due to "unsubstantiated threats."

As of about 12:15, Denton police said several campuses were searched and that no credible threat or weapons were found. All lockdowns have been lifted and no injuries were reported.

Apparantly it was a coordinated hoax.
Police went thru each school looking for weapons, searching every kid & backpaks.

😟

[MyOwnPeace]

23. I'll bet if they check........

they'll find 8 guys from "Vocational Ed." classes missing - and all of the threats were called in on CB's!

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. I'd prefer that we consider driverless trucking, via isolated lanes/road systems that are exclusive

to this kind of commercial product transfer.

[Sherman A1]

4. The level of stupid is simply beyond imagination

What Wingnut came up this this dumb idea?

[former9thward]

30. The Dept. of Transportation would have to make this rule.

The Secretary of Transportation is Pete Buttigieg.

[Irish_Dem]

5. The rational part of the brain is not fully developed until age 25.

Prefrontal cortex is still developing until mid 20's.

[panader0]

13. I read somewhere once that female growth cycles are 7 years and males are 8.

By the time a girl is 14, she is as mature as a boy at 16. At 21, as mature as a male 14, etc.
In my experience as a male, it seems to be true.

[Irish_Dem]

16. The gender gap may be Darwinian.

Historically females needed protection from a male who was stronger, more mature with adequate resources to provide for her and offspring.

Girls with a more advanced brain/maturity would rule out less advanced boys her age and look for an older male who could ensure her and her offspring survival.

[iemanja]

6. What could go wrong?

If they paid truck drivers enough, they wouldn't have this problem.

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. This ends...

badly.

[MenloParque]

9. Teens nowadays driving rigs....omg no!!!

My cousin saved up from the time he was 14 working every day at the lumber yard after school. By the time he turned 18 he had enough to by his own rig. This was 35 years ago. He is very successful and owns a trucking company in Arizona with about 60+ drivers working for him. He won’t hire a trucker under 30 years old nowadays.

[sarcasmo]

10. Teens watching Tik-Tok and driving a Semi, scary A/F.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

11. I was driving farm tractors and trucks way younger than 18

Just because you know some 18 year olds that couldn't handle this doesn't mean they all can't.

[EastMeetsWest]

25. One of my nephews was driving farm machinery at 12 years old

I think farm kids might mature at a faster rate than town kids.

[CrackityJones75]

12. Age-ism isn't just for old people.

[old guy]

14. Just plain no.

[Hortensis]

15. This eases the regulation to allow truckers to cross STATE LINES.

I'm not at all crazy to realize that 18-20 year olds were driving big rigs in the first place. Sheesh!

My concern here is that the big shortages are in long-haul trucking and that that's where they've been training, hiring, and losing novice truckers all along. If they can hire kids for these, could we be seeing I-80 and I-95 lined with big-rig newbies whose parents made them promise to eat their veggies and call every day?

[FSogol]

17. In a country where toddlers have access to guns, why the hell not?

[Runningdawg]

24. In a country where the garbage man could be babysitting your kid at school, why not?

[FSogol]

26. LOL, as long as he doesn't imply that white people ever did anything wrong in history, it'll be ok!

[Irish_Dem]

18. How do you get teens off their phones to look at the road and pay attention?

[USALiberal]

19. I wonder what the insurance companies will think of this? Nt

[crickets]

27. 👆👆

[doc03]

20. I figured anyone over 18 could drive a truck anyway.

An 18 year old can drive a tank in the Army. An 18 year old can run a 450 Ton hot metal crane in a steel mill. Just keep them off the phone they will be ok.

[Revanchist]

21. I was maintaining multi million dollar fighters when I was 18

I'm sure that there are some teenagers driving tanks and trucks in the military also.

[former9thward]

29. In my experience people in the military have alot of supervision.

At least I did. They are not by themselves driving in a truck in heavy traffic.

[haele]

28. Okay, they're talking about the apprenticeship program lowering the age limit.

Which will result in 19 - 20 year olds being able to drive solo instead 22 year olds after the 6 month to a year apprenticeship and licensing requirements most states have now.
Heck, I'm not happy with 22 year olds driving big rigs solo, I think it should be 25 year olds.
My question is this - what do the Teamsters say about this?

Haele