For survivors like Dalilah Coleman, we must improve trucking safety

Dalilah Coleman is not alone. She’s one of countless victims of a broken system that has led to carnage on our nation’s highways. Fortunately, the innocent little girl who was President Trump’s guest at the State of the Union survived a devastating crash with a big rig. Not everyone is so lucky. 

As the president said in his speech, we’ve failed on the basics. Whether that’s an illegal U-turn in Florida, running a red light in Indiana or swerving into oncoming traffic, unqualified drivers have taken far too many lives. Congress is now considering Dalilah’s Law, promising legislation intended to address loopholes that allow unsafe drivers behind the wheel.

No one cares more about highway safety than professional truck drivers. However, greedy companies have convinced lawmakers to embrace policies that let safety slip in exchange for profits, putting the motoring public at risk.

Policies that make it easier to get a license, such as the non-domiciled commercial drivers license (CDL) program, inadequate English proficiency enforcement, unaccountable driving schools and a lack of basic training have had devastating consequences for safety. We hardly know drivers’ background, if they can read road signs, or if they’ve been properly trained. Altogether, numerous abuses and loopholes put everyone on our highways at risk.

Big trucking companies lowered these standards and undermined safety in order to get more drivers behind the wheel. They were indifferent to qualifications or training. For more than 40 years, regardless of market conditions, they have peddled a false narrative that there’s a shortage of truckers.

Instead of offering better working conditions, higher wages or other benefits to retain employees, megacarriers chose to work professional drivers to the bone and do little to improve increasingly difficult working conditions. For example, wages haven’t kept up with inflation for decades, we struggle to find safe places to park and often can’t find a place to use the bathroom. It’s no wonder large motor carriers churn through 90 percent of their driver workforce every year.

Thankfully, the Trump administration is listening, including Transportation Secretary Duffy and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration head Derek Barrs. The administration said enough is enough, and last year’s pro-trucker package, along with renewed English language proficiency enforcement and a crackdown on illegal CDLs have made a real difference.

However, the most important problem in trucking is basic. To drive an 18-wheeler in the United States, there is no requirement of behind-the-wheel training. In fact, some CDL schools boast that they can get you a trucking license in 24 hours or fewer. In contrast, in my home state of Ohio, barbers are required to complete at least 1,800 hours of training before cutting hair. 

In other words, we demand more training to cut hair than to operate an 80,000-pound vehicle at highway speeds, a ludicrous proposition that puts not just other truck drivers at risk, but everyone on the road. This is why truckers have called on Congress to mandate 30 hours of minimum behind-the-wheel training, a commonsense step to ensure new drivers know what they’re doing.

I drove for two and half million miles without an accident, and like millions of truckers across the country, I made the highway my office every day. Professional truckers care just as much about getting home safely as people commuting to work and parents picking their kids up from school. That’s why we’re leading the fight to improve safety. 

While the Trump administration has made great progress on licensing, it is Congress who must act to improve training, the root of our safety issues. It’s long past time to put some minimum requirements in place. Under this administration and with this Congress, we finally have the support to get it done. Let’s not waste the opportunity. Dalilah Coleman and countless others are depending on us.

Lewie Pugh is the executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), representing small-business truckers nationwide.

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