The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is once again putting pressure on lawmakers, this time urging Congress to crack down on weak training and licensing standards for new truck drivers. The association says too many unqualified drivers are getting behind the wheel, creating unnecessary risks on the road and hurting the reputation of professional truckers who take safety seriously.
In a recent letter to leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer didn’t mince words.
“Simply put, far too many individuals are entering the trucking industry without the basic skills necessary to safely operate a commercial vehicle,” Spencer wrote. “Additionally, inconsistent and improper licensing processes among states have permitted hundreds of thousands of unqualified drivers to work on our nation’s roads, which has needlessly resulted in numerous fatal crashes.”
What OOIDA Wants to See Change
OOIDA is calling for stronger, more consistent oversight across the entire licensing and training system. In its letter, the association outlined several key areas where federal lawmakers can make a real difference:
- Tighten Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT) requirements so that every new driver receives hands-on, practical instruction, not just classroom hours.
- Ensure the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry is actively used to weed out bad actors and unqualified training schools.
- Increase audits for new entrants to confirm compliance before they’re fully operating.
- Add tougher accountability for third-party CDL testing sites to prevent unqualified drivers from slipping through.
Pushing Back on the “Driver Shortage”
While some in the industry still talk about a nationwide “driver shortage,” OOIDA says that’s not the real issue. In fact, they argue there are too many drivers, not too few, just not enough who are properly trained or supported to stay in the job long term.
“The trucking industry has suffered from an overcapacity of truck drivers, which has helped drive the longest-running freight recession in decades,” the letter stated. “To be clear, there is no ‘driver shortage’ in trucking. Instead, there is tremendous driver turnover as undertrained drivers are put into a new job they are unprepared for.”
OOIDA is also warning Congress not to make things worse by pushing legislation like the DRIVE Safe Act, which would allow younger, less experienced drivers to haul interstate freight. “Rather than making it easier for unsafe drivers to enter our industry, Congress should take aggressive action that will strengthen training, licensing, and qualification protocols for commercial truck drivers,” the association wrote.
Supporting Stricter Oversight
OOIDA is also backing the return of English Language Proficiency violations to the out-of-service criteria. The group supports the new Interim Final Rule on non-domiciled CDLs and is urging Congress to lock it in by passing Rep. David Rouzer’s Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act.
The group says these steps are critical to improving safety and protecting the reputation of skilled, compliant drivers.
Raising the Bar for the Industry
In closing its letter, OOIDA emphasized that while it appreciates steps already taken by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Congress still has more work to do.
The letter concludes, “We believe Congress must do more to prevent bad actors from ever operating on our nation’s highways.”
For America’s professional truckers, this push from OOIDA represents a long-overdue call for higher standards, something many behind the wheel say the industry desperately needs.
Source: Truckers News
