was 18. He believes there’s nothing inher- ently disqualifying about age. “The right people can do it,” he said. “It’s
not a skill as much as it is a maturity level, and some people mature faster than others, so the main thing is that we’re just absent a system that would allow us to even tap into individuals on a regular basis.” So if someone is mature enough, why
does the CDL have to be graduated? Why not just let mature 18-year-olds who have earned a CDL drive across the country? Hodges said the industry must take public perception into account.
“Most people are fearful of a truck to
begin with, and if they think an 18-year- old’s out there, then that just adds to the fear level or adds to the apprehension that the motoring public has about who’s behind the wheel of that truck,” he said. Hodges said a graduated CDL is the
best route because it would give motor car- riers a structure for determining how safe a driver is. “That’s not to say that there aren’t some immature 50-year-olds out there, but we just have to be sure that we’re respon- sible as we move forward,” he said. TCW’s Manning said technology can
DON’T LET PEOPLE GET UNDER
THEY’VE LEARNED THOSE LESSONS, THEY DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN TO THEM. THEY
GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN OUT THERE A LONG TIME,
“THE OLDER
SOMEBODY GIVES ( ME THE BIRD,
THEIR SKIN. THE YOUNGER GUYS,
TO GIVE IT BACK TO THEM.”
THEY’RE) GOING
VICE PRESIDENT, OZARK MOTOR LINES
MIKE GILMORE,
accomplish part of what experience does now. His company still requires two years of verifiable experience before it will hire a driver, under the theory that time gives the industry an opportunity to determine if a driver is safe. But today’s trucks are bris- tling with data that can quickly tell motor carriers if a driver is departing lanes, driv- ing too fast, weaving, or braking too hard. “You don’t have to wait until they
have a wreck to find out that they aren’t safe in how they operate a vehicle, and so that gives us a comfort level that with the proper training and in the proper limited scope of operation while you get some comfort level with their skill set, we would have some real-time information on how successfully they were operating the motor vehicle,” he said. Manning said the United States relies
on young people to defend itself overseas, so it shouldn’t prevent them from driving a truck at home. “We’re not afraid to send an 18-year-old off to fight in a war, where they can drive
12 TENNESSEE TRUCKING NEWS Q3 2015
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