Congress is considering a move to lower the legal driving age for big rigs to just 18 to capture high school graduates who qualify. Local trucking companies say it's a logical way of finding new drivers.
"In our fleet the average age of our drives is about 58...and as they retire there's no one coming in on the lower range say 20-30 to replace them,” says Brad Meyer of NevCal Trucking.
So the industry as a whole says one way may be lowering the driver age to 18. And luring in high school graduates.
“They're looking at that labor pool as something that could just work it is a possible solution."
But safety on the road is still the top priority and you who knows a lot about that? Leroy Taylor has driven a million miles. Really, he has logged more than a million miles on the road incident free.
He's seen it all...but like a lot of the safe drivers, he's retiring. “I've been on the road for 30 years...I'm 70 years old and it's time."
He also says experience counts! “You have to have a track record or some real training behind you to qualify you to be on the road...period!
The biggest sticking point has been getting insurance companies to get on board with it. In the Midwest they've launched a pilot program working with kids who've already spent years working with farm equipment. "I think they need to lower it some...and the insurance companies need to get onboard and the government and the agencies need to work together to find that happy medium,” says Meyer.
The idea of lowering the driving age is being considered in the big highway bill currently before Congress.
