BEFORE THE

FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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COMMENTS OF THE OWNER-OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

IN RESPONSE TO A NOTICE OF INQUIRY AND REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

[FMCSA Docket No. FMCSA-2002-12334]

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JAMES J. JOHNSTON President Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc.

PAUL D. CULLEN, JR. The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC 1101 - 30th Street, N.W. Suite, #300 Washington, DC 20007

May 27, 2003

BEFORE THE FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIERS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION _________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Procedural Statement

These comments are submitted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. ("OOIDA" or "Association") in response to the Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments published by the National Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA" or "Agency"), Docket No. FMCSA-2002-12334; published in the Federal Register on February 25, 2003.

The notice requests comments on the potential benefits and costs of implementing a graduated commercial driver's license (GCDL) for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

B. Interest of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc.

The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 1973 under the laws of the State of Missouri, with its principal place of business in Grain Valley, Missouri. The more than 95,000 members of OOIDA are small-business men and women in all 50 states and Canada who collectively own and operate more than 160,000 individual heavy-duty trucks. Owner-operators represent nearly half of the total number of Class 7 and 8 trucks operated in the United States. The mailing address of the Association is:

Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. P.O. Box 1000 1 NW OOIDA Drive Grain Valley, Missouri 64029 www.ooida.com

OOIDA is an international trade association representing the interests of independent owner-operators and professional drivers on all issues that affect small business truckers.

The Association actively promotes the views of small business truckers through its interaction with state and federal government agencies, legislatures, the courts, other trade associations, and private businesses to advance an equitable environment for commercial drivers. OOIDA is active in all aspects of highway safety and transportation policy, and represents the positions of small business truckers in numerous committees and various forums on the local, state, national, and international levels. FMCSA's request for comments related to Commercial Driver's licenses would directly affect owner-operators, motor carriers and professional drivers, including members of OOIDA.

II. SUMMARY

Do you think a graduated commercial drivers license is needed?

OOIDA fully endorses the implementation of a GCDL, and believes that it can be an important part of overdue efforts to improve the quality of commercial motor vehicle ("CMV") drivers on our highways.

The most important factor in the safe operation of a CMV is the quality and experience of the driver. This factor is more important than how well a motor carrier complies with the federal safety rules (many carriers are experts at following the regulations, but regularly hire unsafe drivers), and more important than the vehicle condition (a factor that contributes to less than 1% of accidents involving trucks ).

As the attached 1997 publication from Office of Motor Carriers (Publication No. FHWA-MC-97-004) accurately states, it is wrong to assume "that if a driver possesses a Commercial Driver's license, he or she is a trained and experienced commercial vehicle driver. This is not true and can be a very dangerous mistake." Perhaps the most telling statement on this document is that "A CDL endorsement merely indicates that the holder has passed a minimal knowledge test concerning the area covered by the endorsement." These statements have never been more true than they are today.

The lack of any meaningful requirements to gain the privilege to drive a truck is one of the biggest gaps in commercial motor vehicle safety regulation. The efforts by Congress and FMCSA in recent years to create new safety regulations and increase penalties for their violation only perpetuates the current policy of "give anyone a CDL, turn them loose on the highway, and then hope to catch them later." Given that federal and state truck inspections are only conducted on 1% of all trucks each year, and that those inspections do not judge the abilities of the driver, the only time bad drivers are regularly identified is after they cause a serious accident. Not only is this scheme ineffective, it causes greater burdens and costs on society, the government, and all CMV drivers.

Federal safety dollars would be more effectively spent if invested in the creation and maintenance of a more thorough and meaningful CDL process. Such a CDL could prevent the vast majority of unprepared and unsafe drivers from entering the business. Not only will this help prevent accidents, this is a much more effective enforcement scheme than current efforts to try to randomly catch them in the act of violating a rule before they cause greater harm.

A commercial drivers license should mean that a person has the ability to operate a commercial motor vehicle safely. Few carriers make an effort to improve, never mind test, the skills of their drivers. Only by imposing more requirements to obtain a CDL, and devising those requirements so that they impart safe driving skills, will we see a safety improvement in the people we trust to drive 80,000 pound vehicles on our highways.

The creation of a GCDL would improve highway safety in two ways. First it can be used to prevent accidents by prohibiting inexperienced drivers from assuming the privilege of an unrestricted CDL. Second, a graduated CDL can be an excellent opportunity to train, in a supervised environment, a new truck driver for the challenges of trucking. OOIDA is pleased to have this opportunity to share its recommendations how a GCDL should be implemented to give our country the safest drivers possible.

III. COMMENTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

Graduated drivers licenses have proven successful in reducing the number of accidents by teenage drivers. This drop in accidents has been attributed to the fact that GDLs restrict the time, place, and manner that the teenager can drive. Similarly to teenage automobile drivers, accidents involving new truck drivers would be reduced if a GCDL holder were required to spend time training on basic trucking equipment in a supervised environment. Only after going through such training and successfully passing a more rigorous CDL test should a driver be allowed to operate alone.

A GCDL would give a new truck driver the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and driving skills that are not required for a CDL today, but that are important for a person's success as a safe driver. They include driving challenges such as handling a large truck for the first time; learning how to read the upcoming roadway and anticipate its conditions; knowing how to operate on different terrain; interacting with heavy traffic; understanding traffic behavior in different parts of the country; handling various weather conditions; making correct lane choices; negotiating the traffic and particular designs of rural, suburban and city streets; interacting with bad drivers; backing up a truck; approaching a loading dock; and handling different types and weights of cargo. The GCDL holder would also experience the non-driving physical challenges of the job such as loading and unloading a truck; securing a load; handling break-downs; and performing equipment inspection and maintenance. The GCDL driver would learn how to manage personal issues such as: planning for a long haul; spending long periods of time away from home; practicing time management; and learning his or her own personal limitations. Other practical knowledge a truck driver trainee should learn is managing certain challenges related to the trucking business such as: managing the expectations of carriers and shippers; learning customer locations and practice, handling paperwork, and developing an appropriate attitude and people skills. Finally, the GCDL holder would learn one very important lesson: the difference between the real trucking lifestyle and the glamorized one.

While some of these items may not seem directly related to safety, they all have a direct affect on a truck driver's ability to succeed, and that has a significant effect on a driver's attention to safety issues. Many of these practical skills and knowledge, however, should be a part of a standard driver training curriculum and tested on the written and driving CDL exams.

The remainder of OOIDA's comments will follow the questions listed in the Notice.

TRAINING

Should issuance of a GCDL be linked to enrollment in a commercial driving training program?

A GCDL should be linked to its holder's enrollment in a commercial driving training program. The purpose of a GCDL should be to give a person a supervised opportunity to gain experience and knowledge of the safe operation of a truck before being given the privilege of an unrestricted CDL. Unless GCDL holders are required to be in training, there would be no assurance that they would get the comprehensive experience that could make them safer drivers.

Should the curricula of a commercial driver training program meet widely endorsed standards?

To ensure all CMV drivers possess a minimal level of skill, a mandatory entry level training program with a standard curriculum should be created. Widely endorsed, or better, federally established standards are the key to assuring that the purpose of a GCDL is met. While a person could get good general experience learning to drive a truck in a supervised environment, the activities performed under a GCDL should follow a specific curriculum that prepares its holder to pass much more comprehensive written and driving CDL exams than the ones given today.

Without standards, there could be no expectation that new GCDL programs would be any different than the reprehensible practices some carriers consider driver-training today. OOIDA members report that some carriers will pair up a three-month-long CDL holder with a new CDL holder, run them as a team, and call it a training program. As a team one person can be sleeping, off-duty, while the other person is driving. Not only is the "veteran" CDL holder woefully inexperienced with nothing to offer the new CDL holder, but running as a team means the new CDL holder gets little or no supervision or instruction. This cannot legitimately be called a driver training program, and it is a good example why minimal standards must be created for the use of a GCDL.

Approximately how many months/years of entry level training and experience should new drivers receive before "graduating" to an unrestricted CDL?

The Association believes that a person should be required to operate under a GCDL program for a minimum of 1 year and for at least 50,000 miles behind the wheel of a truck before given the opportunity to take a test for a full CDL. Classroom work can be of any appropriate length, but the supervised time driving a truck should be at least one year and 50,000 miles. This period may be extended if the individual does not pass the CDL exam, pursues training on more complicated equipment, or trains to haul hazardous materials.

A GCDL holder should not be allowed to operate a vehicle in an unsupervised, non-training environment. This should mean that they only operate a CMV under the supervision of a qualified trainer who is also on-duty, observing the GCDL holder, and giving comments and instruction when necessary.

DRIVING RECORD

Should an applicant's past driving record be considered in issuing a GCDL?

An applicant's driving record can predict a person's potential behavior as truck driver. Repeated moving violations and a driving record that shows an abuse of the driving privilege should disqualify someone from obtaining a GCDL.

How many of each of the following types of motor vehicle accidents and convictions within the past 12 months should cause an applicant to be denied a GCDL?

Persons convicted of one or more DUI/DWI, controlled substance, and reckless driving violation within the previous twelve previous months should be denied a GCDL. Persons convicted within the previous twelve months of two or more passenger car or light truck motor vehicle accidents, or other convictions for motor vehicle traffic control violations, should also be denied a GCDL. Should penalties for drivers holding a GCDL, who have at-fault accidents or moving violations, be more severe than those for drivers with an unrestricted CDL?

OOIDA does not believe that penalties for at-fault accidents and moving violations should be any more severe for persons holding a GCDL. Unless the penalty for these violations causes a person to lose their license altogether, these violations may, however, be a sufficient basis to require additional training of the GCDL holder.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

How many months/years of passenger car or light truck driving experience should an applicant have before being issued a GCDL?

OOIDA suggests that a person should have between three and five years of driving experience before they are eligible to obtain a GCDL. Driving an automobile or light truck provides invaluable experience to someone who wants a GCDL. Obtaining a regular driver's license ensures that someone has familiarized themselves with the basic rules of the road, traffic laws, and road signs. The more years of driving experience a person has, the better foundation that person has for learning the more complicated task of operating a commercial motor vehicle.

RESTRICTIONS

Which of the following restrictions should apply to entry level drivers operating under a GCDL?

The purpose and value of a GCDL should be to give a person real-life truck-operating experience in a supervised, instructional environment. Putting too many restrictions on a GCDL will prevent the driver from obtaining the experience he or she should get before facing the challenges of trucking with an unrestricted CDL. The only blanket restriction should be that a person with a GCDL may not operate a CMV without an on-duty experienced driver providing supervision and guidance.

With that in mind, some restrictions on trucking equipment types and types of cargo may be useful for the first few months of a GCDL. But by the end of a GCDL holders' training, they should be using the equipment they expect to operate with an unrestricted CDL.

Should a fully licensed CDL driver be required to accompany and observe a driver with a GCDL? If yes, for how many weeks/months/years?

A fully licensed CDL driver should accompany a GCDL driver during the one year period of training. The vital question the Agency has not asked is what qualifications the fully licensed CDL holder accompanying the GCDL holder should have. If the GCDL period is to be for training, then the CDL holder must have minimal training in how to supervise and teach a GCDL holder. The CDL holder must also be very familiar with the requirements of the CDL and training curriculum so that the GCDL holder's training will be appropriate.

The CDL holder should have at least 5 years of CMV driving experience with a decent driving record. He or she should also have experience driving the same equipment in the same environment and conditions facing the GCDL holder.

AGE

A person should be no younger than 21 to obtain a GCDL, or older if necessary for the individual to obtain three to five years of experience driving an automobile or light truck. As OOIDA stated in its comments submitted to FMCSA in response to the Truckload Carriers Association's proposal to lower the age for a CDL, teenagers do not have the maturity to safely operate a CMV. Twenty-one is an appropriate age for someone to start driving a truck. A person should train for at least one year with a GCDL. Therefore the earliest age someone should be able to get an unrestricted CDL should be no younger than 22 years old.

TESTING

The current CDL exams require only the most basic knowledge of trucking rules and rudimentary physical driving skills. Those standards are appropriate for granting a new driver a GCDL.

As long as the GCDL holder operates a vehicle only under the supervision of a qualified on-duty CDL holder, OOIDA does not recommend any mandatory interim testing during a GCDL period. The training program should be devised, however, to prepare the GCDL holder to pass the CDL written and driving exams.

In the interest of more qualified drivers, however, the final written and driving CDL exams must be much more comprehensive than they are today. Those exams should truly measure whether someone is prepared to operate a CMV safely with an unrestricted CDL. Whether a training program is successful, should be determined by its ability to graduate persons who pass the exams.

GCDL holders should show proficiency in the following subjects on the written portion of a CDL exam: map reading; road signs; traffic and motor carrier safety laws; various state highway laws that should be common knowledge for long haul truckers; rules of the road and driver courtesy; how to handle other drivers' road rage; basic truck mechanics; truck safety inspections; proper highway following and stopping distances; professional use of a two-way radio; and how to act in an emergency situations.

GCDL holders should also demonstrate more extensive driving skills than required today. The driving exam should review specific skills including: backing up and docking the truck; turning in narrow urban intersections; proper gear shifting; careful management of traffic and congestion; driving on mountain inclines; shifting truck weight onto different axles; understanding the driver's blind side; backing a truck up a hill; showing basic control of the CMV; merging into traffic; safely performing sudden stops; demonstrating safe following distances; demonstrating proper lane changes and signaling; and parking. The GCDL holder should also perform safety skills including performing pre-trip inspections and demonstrating a working knowledge of maintenance and safety items. Finally the GCDL holder should demonstrate a good attitude and proper courtesy to other drivers.

OOIDA also believes that this CDL system will only work if the CDL exams are uniformly adopted throughout the United States. OOIDA recognizes that the trend in federal policy has been to give the states the maximum amount of flexibility to implement the programs it administers. In the case of long haul trucking, however, where it is normal for a trucker to operate in more than forty states each year, and where the needs of Homeland Security have been lead by the federal government, it would be more fair and far simpler for all drivers if there were one instead of fifty different CDL standards.

Finally the GCDL and CDL exams should test the driver's ability to communicate in English in compliance with 49 CFR Sec. 391.11(b)(2). This regulation to be able to communicate in English is routinely ignored by both enforcement personnel and motor carriers. OOIDA members report that when a trucker cannot speak English, he or she cannot be warned by fellow truckers or enforcement personnel that their truck is operating in a hazardous manner or has a serious defect. Nor can they be told of dangerous conditions in the upcoming roadway. This is a safety issue that needs better enforcement, and could most efficiently be done at the licensing level.

OTHER FACTORS

What other factors do you feel must be addressed in the implementation of a graduated CDL program? All GCDL applicants should prove that they are either a U.S. Citizen, a permanent resident, or that they have proper legal status to work in the United States as a truck driver. Exceptions could be made in the rare circumstance that an individual needs to have CDL for non-working purpose. This check would be an important component of current Homeland Security efforts.

Additionally, the federal government must do a better job overseeing the states' CDL programs. Recent local scandals have shown the extent to which some individuals, carriers, and state bureaucrats and politicians will go to help individuals avoid even the minimal requirements needed to get a CDL today. The integrity and fairness of a successful GCDL and CDL program will depend on its honest and consistent administration.

COST

OOIDA's proposed GCDL and CDL improvements would require a larger investment than now spent in the training of a driver. Whatever the increased cost, it will be more than made up with improvements in safety and the quality of truck drivers on our highways. This will be measurable by the reduced number of accidents (causing death, injuries, and property damage, the cost of emergency responses, road closing etc...) and the reduced need for motor carrier enforcement to cast such a large net to try to catch the bad drivers after they pick up their CDL and start operating a truck.

 

IV. CONCLUSION

Highway safety would be improved with the creation of a GCDL program to properly train our nation's next generation of truck drivers. Such a program would also recognize the complicated skills and knowledge it takes to perform this job professionally and safely. The image of America's professional truck drivers has been tarnished in recent years by unqualified and unprepared individuals who have been recruited and put behind the wheel of a truck with no real training. These individuals do not contribute to safety on our highways and fortunately spend little time in their jobs. Unfortunately, the CDL requirements are so few that these bad drivers are easily replaced with equally unqualified new candidates. The creation of a substantive GCDL program combined with significantly strengthened CDL requirements will help break this cycle and give our country a truck driver force it can be proud of.

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________ PAUL D. CULLEN, JR. THE CULLEN LAW FIRM, PLLC 1101 30th Street N.W. Suite 300 Washington, DC 20007 (202) 944-8600

JAMES J. JOHNSTON President Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc.

May 27, 2003