This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Post-pandemic vision for driver training.
DETAILS: Success for enterprise fleets — like all trucking sectors — begins with professionally trained drivers. A. Bailey Wood, the new president and CEO of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA), discusses how vigorous outreach combined with revamped training requirements and the rebuilding of the driver supply chain are opening opportunities for those looking to enter the trucking industry.
SPEAKER: A. Bailey Wood, president and CEO, Commercial Vehicle Training Association.
BIO: Selected in March to lead CVTA, Wood recently served as the director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration, a role that included policy development, intergovernmental relations, funding and grant review, and communications. He began his career on Capitol Hill, serving as staff on two House committees. Wood has also held communications positions for the National Automobile Dealers Association and the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.
KEY QUOTES FROM A. BAILEY WOOD
“The entry-level driver training rule [which goes into effect Feb. 7, 2022] creates a minimum standard curriculum for everybody training to be a truck driver to get the best training they can. Our goal is to make our roads safer, and this comprehensive curriculum will up everybody’s skills.”
“Our hope is that states will finally start to see the value of third-party testing. There’s already a major backlog … delays at DMVs are quite significant. These delays haven’t subsided primarily because the demand for truck drivers hasn’t subsided. We’re at a minimum 60,000 drivers short at this moment, and that number is going to go up dramatically.”
“It’s one thing to drive grandma to the grocery store for her weekly supplies in an automated vehicle. It’s another thing to put a multiton [automated] truck on the road, not only on the highway but also through intercity traffic. [Trucks] are still safest with a person behind the wheel.”