There are no national standards for training new semi-truck drivers.
Here’s why that’s a problem.
Several years ago, I represented Angelah, a young girl with a mild traumatic brain injury.
She had been in a terrible crash.
Her mother was driving. The afternoon was rainy, and the road was wet.
A truck driver failed to take into consideration roadway hazards and struck the family vehicle.
He hadn’t been driving a semi-truck for very long—he was still in training. He wasn’t driving carefully, especially for the weather conditions.
Brain injury case-semi-truck crash Washington
If that young trucker had more experience, he might not have made this tragic decision. He might have slowed down.
I don’t think that the semi-truck driver meant to cause a crash.
I don’t think he climbed into the cab that day thinking his driving could cause a child’s serious head injury.
I don’t think he would make the same bad driving decisions if he could live that day all over again.
I do think it’s likely that this crash had a negative impact on his life, as it did on Angelah’s life.
And I think that more training would have improved his driving skills.
Semi-truck experience matters
New truckers and trainees are statistically far more likely to be involved in a collision.
Yet, there are no national standards for training new semi-truck drivers before they hit the road.
In March 2016, FMCSA proposed a national standard for trucker training, a rule that would require 30 hours of training for a Class A commercial license. That’s the license for drivers operating tractor-trailers over 26,000 pounds … like the truck in Angelah’s devastating crash.
The proposed rule would include a minimum of 10 hours operating a tractor-trailer on a practice driving range.
“Well-trained drivers are safer drivers, which leads to greater safety for our families and friends on our highways and roads,”
– U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx
30 hours of training is not an onerous standard.
This issue isn’t especially contentious.
Even the Owner-Operator Independent Driver’s Association (OOIDA), an organization known for opposing federal mandates for trucking, cites driver training as a shared top priority with the federal agency.
In Angelah’s case, the trucking company eventually offered to settle her brain injury claim. It was a fair settlement, one that has allowed her to get the ongoing care she needs.
The final rule on national trucker training standards is expected soon.
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