KANSAS CITY — A nationwide shortage of truckers has some industry officials and national lawmakers supporting a plan to allow 18-year-olds to become long-haul drivers.
But some industry officials, like Jeffrey Steinberg, director of the APEX CDL Institute in Kansas City, Kansas, thinks that’s a bad idea, even though the institute trains truckers and would likely see an increase in enrollment.
The Kansas City Star reports bills are before both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate that would allow under-21 holders of commercial drivers’ licenses to take cargo across state lines. The Senate bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas.
The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, headquartered in Grain Valley, Missouri, agrees with Steinberg. It has joined more than a dozen traffic safety groups in protesting to a congressional committee that will consider the idea.
