This past February, a federal standard went into effect establishing mandatory training of entry-level drivers of commercial motor vehicles. Ironically, just as it has taken the regulations a decade to go into effect, it’s the employers and new CDL drivers who are now being put in a holding pattern.
The new requirements mandate first-time CDL drivers to meet Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) standards, which require them to receive Theory and Behind-The-Wheel (BTW) training through certified programs.
The Commercial Driving License (CDL) is required in the United States for anyone operating a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more for commercial purposes. While the nation’s more than 570,000 long-distance truckers come to mind when many think of CDL drivers, these long-distance haulers make up less than half of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. that are CDL Class A drivers.
“Most people think of CDLs of only being required for semis, but they are required for any large vehicles used in a commercial nature,” said Tom Balzer, who has served as Ohio Trucking Association president/CEO since 2013. “… There are a lot of vehicles that require CDL operators that many people don’t really know are necessary,” he added, giving examples such as dump trucks, snowplows, even pickup trucks used to haul gooseneck trailers for landscape equipment.
“Almost every (construction) crew, whether you’re a paving crew, milling crew, if you’re doing any type of underground work, you’re probably going to have a vehicle to transport the material or some type of truck that is more than 26,000 pounds that requires a CDL,” said Dave Coniglio, who recently joined the OCA staff and will begin serving as Director of Labor Relations & Safety Affairs in 2023 (see related article, page 22).
With the guideline that any single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001+ pounds requiring a registered CDL driver, the list of heavy/highway construction equipment calling for a CDL certified operator includes grader blades, bulldozers, loaders, cranes, large Bobcats, boom/aerial lifts, water trucks, broom tractors, compact rollers and more.
“On nearly every construction crew there are multiple people having a CDL,” said Coniglio, adding it’s common that upwards of 40% of crew members are CDL registered.
Before 1986, if you had a driver’s license you were eligible in many states to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). However, due to people behind the wheels of CMVs, which ranged in size from a bus to semi-trucks, not having proper training to handle these larger vehicles, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act was signed into law in the fall of 1986. This act instituted a training standard for CMV drivers receiving a CDL to ensure they are highly trained and qualified.
While the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act improved highway safety, another upgrade for CMV drivers’ training was created by the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), signed into law in July 2012. As a result of MAP-21, the “new” ELDT requirement that went into effect in February 2022 requires CDL applicants go through a program with a certified trainer. The ELDT regulations are not retroactive and do not apply to drivers who obtained CDL or school bus (S), passenger (P) or hazardous materials (H) endorsements prior to Feb. 7, 2022. According to CDLLife, the reason for the 10-year timeline for MAP-21’s ELDT programs to go into effect was due to compliance delays to allow state agencies time to update internal procedures and driver course completion information.
Balzer said prior to the ELDT requirement, a person could take and pass a written and practical exam and receive their CDL without any formal training. Balzer knows this first-hand. He recalls his initial behind-the-wheel driving experience was on his initial ride along when he was thrown the keys and told, “Your turn.”
“Literally, the first time I ever drove a truck I was on the public roads,” Balzer said. “It was only after that initial experience on the road that I spent time in the company parking lot teaching myself how to back-up a truck … Basically, I taught myself how to drive.”
That has changed with the 2022 ELDT requirements. “There is now a process in place, he said. “… There now needs to be some sort of certified trainer that signed off on your proficiency. We want to make sure that we put our safest, most-highly-trained drivers on the road. This is a way to measure that, to make sure there is some level of proficiency there – and so that is definitely a positive.”
The required ELDT consists of online theory and behind the wheel training. According to CDL Life:
The ELDT rule establishes minimum requirements for entry-level driver training standards for training providers and CDL applicants.
The rule will apply to the applicants who want to:
- Obtain a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time
- Upgrade an existing Class B CDL to a Class A CDL
- (or) Obtain a school bus (S), passenger (P) or hazardous materials (H) endorsement for the first time
The CDL Life article, “Here’s What You Need to Know About the Entry-Level Driver Training Rule,” said first-time CDL applicants and those seeking S, P or H certification are required to receive training from a provider listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry. This training must be completed by the driver prior to participating in the CDL skills test. If the driver is applying for the H endorsement the training must precede the knowledge test.
In the new ELDT rule there is no minimum-hour requirement for either the BTW or theory training. CDLLife said the ELDT rules’ only requirement is “applicants seeking a CDL would be required to demonstrate proficiency in knowledge training and behind-the-wheel training on a driving range an on a public road, with training obtained from an instructional program that meets FMCSA standards.”
Ohio has no shortage of outlets to obtain theory and BTW training. According to Truck Driving Schools Info, there are 62 schools in the state. With truck driving school’s class sizes being 15 students on-average, one-on-one training is provided during the fourto-eight-week curriculum. However, this is provided at a price, as average tuition, according to Truck Driving Schools Info, is more than $16,500; though, scholarships and loans can help with the cost. CDL training is also available in Ohio at career/technical schools as well as through certified private training available at larger construction companies and public agencies. Both CDL theory and BTW training is required to be completed within a 12-month period. A Commercial Driver’s License Permit (CDLP), which is comparable to a new driver’s learning permit – or “driving temp,” is required prior to ELDT’s BTW training portion. A CDLP can also be obtained through the BMV and consists of a 50-question test.
“Some contractors have partnered with truck driving schools to provide training … Some of the crafts have instructors qualified internally,” said Coniglio, “So, they can teach it to the members as well. But if you aren’t signatory to the crafts you have to do something else to get that training.”
Time & Money
The new ELDT CDL regulations are causing issues because of the extra time and cost in earning and securing the certification.
“From the members’ side, the new regulations have created a lot of problems,” said Coniglio. “You hire someone for an immediate opening and immediate need. Maybe they are an experienced driver with a B classification, but you need them to be an A (classification) because they’re going to be pulling a trailer. They now have to go back and take all this training … There isn’t a surplus of people that have the qualifications you need.”
Balzer pointed out tuition is an extra cost to the individual driver or company. “You can’t get federal-aid to go to truck driving school,” he said. While Ohio, through its Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), has developed a two-year, $5-million grant program to assist individuals with loans to attend truck driving school, Balzer said it’s not making as big an impact as hoped; 2022’s $2.5-million allotment was gone in two weeks. “We are going into the next budget cycle and asking (the state) to at least double the size of that program,” Balzer said. “… It’s more for than just the quote un-quote trucking drivers, it’s also for the folks in the construction industry who are dealing with those types of vehicles.”
Another roadblock impacting individuals working toward their CDL certification – and thus the contracting company waiting for their personnel to meet the ELDT requirements – is the lack of certified trainers and testers.
A late-November count of Ohio’s certified CDL trainers and testers numbered more than 5,000, with 4,465 being in-person at training locations, 554 available online and 27 as traveling instructors and testers. However, the need is greater since the ELDT-certified training regulations have gone into effect.
“The need right now is tremendous, and we’re going to experience a bottleneck,” said Ohio Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Center Director & ODOT Office of Local Programs Assistant Administrator Victoria Beale. “You can only train so many people at the truck driving schools at once, and the part of the requirements that we are up against now we were taking care of the training of the folks before … So, it’s an additional burden on those schools.” (See page 20 for how the Ohio LTAP Center is providing CDL Theory Training at no cost.)
Balzer said the bottleneck of drivers completing ELDT training is not the only slowdown, as there are also tie ups when it comes to testing. The scheduling of final CDL testing is impacting both the driver obtaining his/her CDL as well as the contractor waiting to get CDL certified drivers behind the wheel.
Ohio’s current rule does not allow for a CDL test to be scheduled until a certification of completion of ELDT theory and BTW training is in-hand, which, according to Balzer, exacerbates the problem.
“In Ohio, if a student knows they will complete training on a certain day, they cannot call the BMV and schedule a road test …,” Balzer said. “You have to have that completed certificate of proficiency before you can apply for the test.” He said Ohio’s “tight availability of third-party testers” is resulting in wait times of weeks between scheduling and taking the final CDL test.
Compared nationally, turnaround time for scheduling CDL testing in Ohio is about average. While some states allow individuals to schedule their final tests prior to completion of ELDT training, other states, such as on the East Coast, have upwards to a two- to three-month waiting list.
Balzer and Coniglio agree, the wait can be the hardest thing.
“When you have no income, and you have to go through six weeks to pursue training and wait another two to three weeks in order to get income – that can be complicating,” said Balzer of people living paycheck to paycheck.
In addition to asking the state for increased grant funding for CDL training, Balzer and the Ohio Trucking Association are working with industries, associations and business leaders, also dependent on CDL drivers, to help expedite the processes. “We’re working with (state officials) to hopefully find some commonsense solutions to speed up the process,” Balzer said. These commonsense solutions include allowing individuals to schedule final testing prior to completing ELDT coursework and getting more third-party certified testers registered. “And another thing we’re working with the state to do is develop a system that allows for folks to go in and see what the wait time (for testing) is at all the facilities across the state,” Balzer said. “… We’re looking for Ohio to do an online system that says, ‘Here are all the availabilities at all the locations. So, if you want to drive to this testing location, this is how you do it.’” Asked how the contracting industry can assist in meeting the new CDL ELDT requirements and decreasing process timelines, Balzer suggests, “They can register someone in their business as a trainer and provide a trainer in-house. So, if they have some folks that need to get CDLs and need to go through this process they can do that … They can bring a trainer in-house to expedite it.”
Regarding the new ELDT requirements for obtaining the CDL, Coniglio said, “There is no downside to the extra learning and development for either a new driver or preparation for an upgrade. What is bad is the amount of time it takes … From a safety perspective there is no negative. It’s the time to get that training and testing that is a downside.”