WASHINGTON — Flexibility sought by the state of Florida in the current CDL training regulations could — if approved by safety officials — cut down on lost wages for drivers, according to driver training schools.
In comments filed Wednesday on Florida’s exemption petition, which was filed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last month, Danny Bradford, Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) chairman, said that the additional flexibility that the exemption would give Florida’s CDL testing program would help address skills testing delays.
“These delays put jobs on hold for 258,744 drivers and resulted in over $1 billion in lost wages for these drivers,” Bradford stated, referring to an independent economic analysis commissioned by CVTA in 2016. This in turn caused an estimated loss of $234 million in federal income taxes and $108 million in state and local sales taxes that would have been generated in the absence of skills testing delays, he pointed out.
Such delays would be even more costly now, Bradford contends, because driver wages have improved since CVTA’s analysis. He cited an American Trucking Associations study showing that driver compensation increased 18% between 2019 and 2021.
Federal regulations require the three-part CDL skills test — pre-trip inspection, basic vehicle control skills and on-road skills — to be administered and completed in that order. If an applicant fails one part of the test, he or she is not allowed to start the next part of the test but instead must return on a different day to retake all three parts.
But as it explains in its petition, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) wants prospective new drivers — at the discretion of skills testers — to be allowed to continue testing subsequent segments of the CDL skills test if they fail the pre-trip inspection or the basic vehicle control skills segments. The applicant would be allowed to return at a later date to retest only the failed segments.
In supporting the agency’s exemption, Bradford also said that skills testing delays can cause a new driver’s skills to deteriorate.
“The longer an applicant must wait to take a CDL skills test, the further they are from the training they received to prepare for the exam,” he said. “Allowing an applicant to test as quickly as possible and begin their job means they will continue repetition in the skills needed to be a safe commercial motor vehicle operator and will retain more of what they learned in their training.”
The National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), which represents more than 500 companies that support or specialize in cargo-tank services, agreed with CVTA, noting that if the petition is approved, skills testers in Florida will be able to devote less time to areas in which drivers have already shown they are competent, increasing the efficiency of the CDL credentialing process.
“Given the well documented commercial driver shortage, it is imperative that we reduce barriers to individuals attaining the proper credentials for operating commercial vehicles,” wrote William Lusk, NTTC director of education and government relations.
Others saw potential safety problems, however. “An applicant failing the pre-trip and then being allowed to continue is not only unsafe but irresponsible,” according to one commenter.
“The FMCSA rules set forth say a pre-trip must be done and the driver must be sure the vehicle is in good operating order prior to moving the vehicle. Allowing the test to continue goes against that rule as well as what the CDL schools are trying to teach.”
Another argued that if new driver applicants are having a hard time learning how to successfully conduct a pre-inspection, “maybe we should toughen up on the instructors to do a better job of training individuals,” the commenter wrote. “I have trained and tested thousands of new drivers, and with proper training, none have failed. It’s all in the training.”
Lawrence Mater
If this is allowed said Instructor or Examiners license should not be in jeopardy at any time of training or testing
BK
How does still needing to return to retest a failed portion really speed up the overall? They still have to reschedule and retake. Additionally, CDL testing is not that difficult. The bar is pretty low and shouldn’t be lowered.
T. Davidson
THERE IS NO TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE. This is a lie perpetrated by the larger companies because they have a retention problem. They need to do better at retaining drivers instead of allowing them to move to smaller, more respectful, companies.
I think this exemption is a very very bad mistake. I can see it now, tires flying off trucks, more semi’s catching fire while on the road, coupling coming undone and trailers left blocking roadways, 3 hours waits while these drivers try and park (I’ve actually seen this one in person)… Do I even mention the danger to the 4 wheel drivers who already have issues maneuvering around use??
Train the trainers better. Hold them to a higher standard, you are being paid to train afterall. Make this a training problem, not a public safety one.
By the way, to the person who reference how pilots are trained, thank you for giving me a reason to double and triple check the credentials of the pilot flying all my future flights.
Ralph F Young
Making the test easier or not doing the job in order does not make safer and how does it matter the driver trainees can not get cdl till pass complete test so how they going to make any more money till completed all of the test make no sense this sounds just like no student left behind in school and that does nothing but make unprepared adults
Troy Hudson
If you can’t accomplish a pre-trip inspection, basic controls, and on-road skills EVERY time you intend to drive, you shouldn’t be thinking about getting behind the wheel. We should all want to be confident knowing every trucker on the road can accomplish this every day. Flori-duh thinks its better for someone to focus on one aspect and forget the other 2, then do that again and again. Maybe faster, not safer.
Robert F Baumann JR
I have no problem with and see no reason why someone would not be allowed to complete the whole test and then come back to retake what they had trouble with. When learning to fly and then taking the check ride, you don’t stop the test. You complete it all and then retake what you failed at, which is up to the examiner to decide. Driving should be no different.
James Hardy
“Given the well documented commercial driver shortage, it is imperative that we reduce barriers to individuals attaining the proper credentials for operating commercial vehicles,” wrote William Lusk, NTTC director of education and government relations.
LoL…. Driver shortage….. LoL……
Anthony Rich
This article has more lies in it than truths. They want less qualified drivers, so they can pay them lower wages. So someone who cannot perform a pretrip which is an important part of the job, is going to be allowed to operate a Class A Semi with a 53′ trailer, and not even know if it’s safe to operate. Pathetic.