While the House and Senate agreed on a three-month bill with one day to spare, the Senate passed a longer term bill that will fund the highway fund for three-years and make changes to highway, transit, railroad and auto safety programs. Among the changes in the legislation, introduced by U.S. Sen. Deb Fisher (R-Neb.) is a pilot program for CDL holders younger than 21 to do interstate hauling and delivery.
Fisher’s Commercial Driver Act would let states test the feasibility of expanding Class A CDLs for those not yet 21 beyond intrastate driving.
Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, supports the act, “It is illogical that a 20-year-old can drive the 500 miles from San Francisco to San Diego, but not the 8 miles from Memphis, Tennessee to West Memphis, Arkansas – or simply cross the street in Texarkana,” Graves said. “Even more illogical is that a 20-year-old may not drive a truck in any state if the cargo in it originated outside the state or will eventually leave the state by some other means.”
