Confessions of an Underage, Unlicensed Truck Driver

By Francis Wilkinson, Bloomberg View | August 28, 2015

  • August 28, 2015 at 2:15 pm
    Agent says:
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    And Congress recently passed legislation allowing 18 year olds to handle big rig trucking. That is about as insane as it gets.

    • August 28, 2015 at 3:03 pm
      Road Dog says:
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      18 years old can already handle big rigs so long as they stay within state lines. The new legislation would actually restrict them more than they are currently in exchange for letting them cross into other states.

      • August 28, 2015 at 3:47 pm
        Agent says:
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        The trick is to get insurance company approval to allow 18 year olds to drive a rig. Underwriters will laugh at an agent for submitting a driver of that age. Forget it, no way!

        • August 30, 2015 at 9:28 pm
          okt0ber says:
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          Progressive will take it. But, you’ll be paying big time for it.

    • August 31, 2015 at 9:59 am
      Nebraskan says:
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      You can go to war when you are 18, but not drive a truck…..

  • August 28, 2015 at 4:01 pm
    Ruben Russo says:
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    All those , suited men into office de only they think is this how stop 80,000lb trucks ,but won’t see that mostly truck accident there caused X inexperienced four wheelers which have no clue haw drive into hwy .DMV SHOULD BE MORE CARFUL WEN THEY GIVINN DRIVER LINCESES ,I NKNOW THAT IS A FACT WITH MY OWN DAUGHTER . WEN SHE GOT HER’s D License and a lot more things

  • August 28, 2015 at 4:52 pm
    Mr. Obvious says:
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    From the article:

    “I haven’t been behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer since January 1980,”

    Nothing like writing an inflammatory article about your experiences 35 years ago. . .

    Trucking regulations, equipment and the industry itself have all undergone major changes since you got behind the wheel of a truck. There were 2,000 fewer fatal accidents involving truckers in 2013 than there were in 1980 despite almost double the number of trucks on the road.

    I agree with Agent about the 18 yr olds. It is next to impossible to find insurance for anyone under 23.

    • August 28, 2015 at 5:41 pm
      Agent says:
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      Hey Mr, wouldn’t a good ambulance chasing lawyer love to get hold of an accident where the trucking company put an inexperienced 18 year old behind the wheel and he ran over a family of four while texting his girlfriend? There isn’t enough limits in the world for that kind of accident.

      • August 31, 2015 at 3:01 pm
        Mr. Obvious says:
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        In this part of the country, there are kids driving farm equipment and pulling wagons as young as 12. By the time they are 18 they are better on the road than any 25 year old graduate of a truck driving school.

        • August 31, 2015 at 4:51 pm
          Rosenblatt says:
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          Well said, Captain Obvious. Oh, sorry – Mister Obvious :) Experience based solely on age can be misleading in certain scenarios. I know 50 year old’s who are less mature than 11 year old’s.

        • September 1, 2015 at 9:24 am
          Cuzin Brucey says:
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          Amen to that. I was parking my Dad’s rigs here on the farm since I could reach the pedals. Once I was 18 I didn’t need any more practice driving/backing a rig. Progressive was the only insurance that would take me on for the first few years, and yes, I paid for it! I’d rather hire young drivers with that kind of experience to run my 2 trucks than anyone fresh out of Truck driving school.

  • August 31, 2015 at 9:21 am
    track says:
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    Frank, do your homework, Howard does not work for the ATA anymore. I could make up a few reasons as to why a former ATA employee wrote a very biased article, but that would be bad journalism. We would not want that, would we?

  • September 1, 2015 at 9:43 am
    trucker's wife says:
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    Love how they list how many fatalities involving trucks but do they never list all the fatalities involving just cars. And they never list how many of those accidents were caused BY YHE CARS. I’ve been on the road with my husband and couldn’t count the number of times that he avoided an accident because he’s paying more attention to what the cars are doing than the drivers of the cars are.



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