Vol. XVI No. 3
May / June 2022
Serving Soil, Mulch, Compost & Wood Pellet Producers www.SoilandMulchProducerNews.com
NEWS
In-House ELDT Driver Training Solution Now Available
“D
o you want your children to grow up to be truck drivers?” That was the question posed by Philip Byrd, then president of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and Bulldog Trucking, when he spoke to members of the Mulch & Soil Council about the issue of a looming truck driver shortage. Not a single hand went up in response to his question. When that exchange took place in 2003, the estimated national truck driver shortage was around 20,000. By 2019, the pre-pandemic estimate for the national truck driver shortage had risen to 60,000 drivers, the ATA reported. “Nearly every good consumed in the U.S. is put on a truck at some point,” the ATA notes. “As a result, the trucking industry hauled 72.5 percent of all freight transported in the United States in 2019, equating to 11.84 billion tons.” The demand for drivers has continued to skyrocket. With e-commerce sales surging during the coronavirus pandemic — along with returns of approximately 38 to 40 percent of those total sales —even more pressure was put on the trucking industry to deliver in both directions, pushing the shortage of drivers to 80,000, according to the ATA. Futurist Nikolas Badminton predicts the need for drivers will explode to 162,000 by 2030, just eight years from now. Autonomous vehicle operations will fill some gaps in short-haul and regional trucking demand, but significant driver shortages will persist into the foreseeable future. Much of the driver shortage is blamed on poor pay, lack of benefits, difficult working conditions and the aging trucker population averaging over 56 years of age. The number of drivers employed in 2020 dropped to 3.36 million, nearly a 7 percent decline from the previous year. Despite the pressure that transportation issues have on current national supply chain problems, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on Feb. 7
By Robert L. LaGasse, Executive Director Mulch & Soil Council implemented a long delayed (since 2016) rule having significant impact on entry level driver training (ELDT). Among industries hard hit by the rule are mulch companies. Previously, anyone who wanted a commercial driver’s license only needed to apply and pass the knowledge and skills tests in the state where they live. How the applicant was trained was not an issue — only that they passed the tests. The new regulation requires applicants for a commercial driver’s license, including Class A and Class B and/or Hazardous Materials Endorsement, to first have a certificate from an approved driver training program before they can apply and take the knowledge and skills tests in any state. Some 24 percent of Mulch & Soil Council (MSC) members had in-house training programs. Those programs, unless previously approved, were instantly outlawed by the new regulation. The typical company in the MSC has 17 trucks, although not all of them require a commercial driver’s license. A shortage of drivers also plagues the industry, regardless of whether they contract out for shipping as most do or handle it in-house. FMCSA, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has an online list of about 4,000 approved training programs nationwide which can, in some cases, present a geographic challenge for potential trainees. The training
school programs can cost from $2,000 to more than $10,000, with a national average estimated at approximately $6,500 to $7,500. The Mulch & Soil Council objected to the rule change but was told it had very few allies and the major trucking industry supported the rule change because they did not generally employ entry-level drivers. “With an increasing number of people applying for CDLs over the past year, there has never been a more important time to implement minimum uniform training standards that ensure new drivers have both the knowledge and skills to operate safely,” said Jack Van Steenburg, executive director and chief safety officer at FMCSA. “The ELDT regulations were developed with input from driver and training organizations, motor carriers, state licensing agencies, safety advocacy groups, and insurance companies.” The rule, however, virtually eliminated most existing in-house entry-level driver training programs for small businesses who depend on entry-level drivers, cannot afford to send employees to training schools due to costs or location, and cannot qualify as an approved driver training program under the new regulations. To address those concerns, the Mulch & Soil Council has come up with three options Continued on page 3