I like the more pay idea a lot better than this one -

Overseas manpower company-trained truckers likely to fly to US
P. Sujatha Varma
Four-month training in left-hand driving, spoken English
VIJAYAWADA: Over 200 truck drivers will swarm the world-class driving
school at Ampapuram from July 2 to be part of an unique training
programme, which will include classes in left-hand driving and spoken
English. The four-month training will equip truckers with driving
skills and English-speaking ability. The trainees are part of the
Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh Ltd. (OMCAP) floated by the
Government to find employment opportunities for Indian workforce
overseas. This will be the first batch of workers, trained and sent
abroad under the protective wings of OMCAP.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, I’ll believe there’s a shortage when store shelves are empty. So far, when I go into a store, any store, shelves are pretty full. I was going to say I don’t understand it, but I suppose I do. Why is it all about greed? The economy is booming, almost everyone that wants a job, has a job, we can afford to pay the people a decent wage. If the price of lettuce goes up a little and the economy slows a little, so be it.

Durable goods are up (here), truck tonnage is up (here) and there is a

DenverPost.com – LOCAL NEWS.

The Somalis came to Colorado by the dozens over a three-year stretch, seeking something they were having trouble getting in their home state of Minnesota: driver’s licenses.

Colorado has a serious problem with their CDL schools just handing out licenses. I honestly don’t think Colorado is alone though. The school I went to in Kansas allowed the school to certify the driving test was completed. I thought my school was pretty good. Cindy’s school on the other hand, three weeks of driving and the school was allowed to perform the driving part of the exam. Which only the owner was supposed to administer, but the instructor gave the students the exam because the owner was busy. After they had her money, the owner washed his hands of her when she needed some help with her paperwork. It was clear he’s a scumbag, the instructor’s a functioning alcoholic and was late every day.

I know the article mentions foreign drivers and I could go on and on, but it’s more about being able to buy a CDL.

More than 3,000 licenses were suspended in Illinois and Florida after a two-year federal investigation uncovered a corruption scandal involving state motor vehicle employees and third-party testers, mostly truck-driving schools.

In Pennsylvania, 2,100 truckers were required to take road tests after it was discovered that a trucking school passed 25 people who never took a road test.

The aftermath of those scandals can ripple across the country, because many states allow drivers to swap commercial licenses from other states. A truck-driving school in Florida was accused of taking cash to pass more than 1,000 drivers who never took a test. Those licenses were then swapped for commercial licenses in states as far-flung as New York, Georgia and Illinois, a federal investigation found.

In Colorado, state officials are investigating problems in the third-party testing system.

You think??? The article mentions the third party system was made to eliminate backlogs in the government DMV buracrocy. What’s it worth to save a little time and effort? If there was a backlog and the state did the actual exam, you could be sure the schools would put more effort making sure the students knew what the heck they were doing. And maybe the CDL and the CDL holder would be worth something.

In addition, the state canceled the license of a tester at Careers World Wide in 2002 after he approved a truck driver’s license for a man who had previously failed four tests.

A state compliance officer who retested that driver gave this harrowing account: The driver did not know how to test the brakes, mistook the windshield- washer fluid for engine coolant and failed to inspect the tires.

On "the road portion of the test, he could not shift gears," the compliance officer wrote. He veered into the wrong lane on a left turn, made dangerously fast right turns, blocked a lane of traffic when he stopped, and waited through eight green lights at one intersection, she wrote.

"He drove as if he was a new student learning how to drive," the compliance officer wrote. "On some of his turns, if there were traffic eight to 10 blocks away, he would not go (probably because he could not shift gears)."

While everyone is concerned about truck drivers that don’t get enough rest, shouldn’t they be worrying about truck drivers that can’t DRIVE!!!

Are tired truckers causing more wrecks?.
A shortage of truck drivers persists throughout the United States, leaving truckers already on the road working harder to keep the nation’s goods moving.

But, some speculate they are working so long and hard that they’re causing accidents.

Speculate? Let’s quote a speculation from an unknown source to make a headline. Then we have -

On Monday, driver after driver pulled into the Triple-T truck stop. Many have been on the road for days, even weeks, without a rest.

Without rest or without sleep or without a day off with family? Big difference, but it sounds more drastic this way.

I promise never to do a television interview about trucking because no matter what is said, it will get turned around. Besides they wouldn’t want my ugly mug on TV anyway.

“It’s not enough people to get the job done,” explained Joanne Martinez, a truck driving student, “so, it puts the pressure on the people that are doing the job right now. [They're] more pressed for time.”

Martinez said even as a student, she understands what she’ll be facing.

A student driver understands the industry after she’s been out here for a couple of weeks? Nice job for the TV though. A woman truck driver giving her uninformed opinion to an even more uninformed reporter. But she got on TV!

The rest of the story is just as bad. There are a few quotes from drivers that I’m sure had good intentions, but the TV spins things around to fit the headline.

I’d go on, but to keep my head from exploding from the insanity, I’ll let you click here then click on the video camera below the picture to see the video for yourself.