What do you all think?
Posted by unregrettful@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 18 comments
Personally I think this is a no brain'er. And will open up jobs for others in a field that is overwhelmed by "immigrants" or fast trackers through the cdl process.
Outlaw11091@reddit
Look, I 100% agree that truck drivers should at least be able to read and comprehend English.
When I travel to a foreign country, I study up on the language as much as I can to try to at least gather context. I'm able to speak broken Spanish and French because I've been to Mexico and Canada.
With that said, this isn't a good thing that they're doing. Companies have been crying driver shortage for decadeS and that's with an immigrant labor force.
If they actually manage to get rid of any significant number of offenders, the cost of EVERYTHING is going to go UP again. But it doesn't end there.
They'll use the smaller workforce as an excuse to push for more automation. Companies like Walmart are already using them. This will cause them to use more of them and push for legislation to allow their widespread usage.
Mydogfartsconstantly@reddit
I think the government wants us blaming immigrants and cdl mills. They’re a symptom of the problem. Wanna fix the actual problem then you need to hold companies accountable for hiring people the government deems less than worthy. That’ll never happen.
18WheelerHustle@reddit
Why is the government licensing drivers that they "deems less than worthy"?
Mydogfartsconstantly@reddit
Find out which logistics companies lobbied for it.
JOliverScott@reddit
If you've been in or around the trucking industry for a while you'll know the industry talking heads (which is mostly trucking industry execs) have been screaming driver shortage for about two decades. The Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that there's nothing exceptional about the trucking industry that wouldn't be solved with better pay but that's absolutely not what they wanted to hear so these same execs petitioned/pressured/bribed the government to relax the regs, including among other rules the English language requirement. Then they started importing a cheaper labor force to replace American drivers. So it all really just comes down to good old American corporate greed. They'd rather put a good driver out of a job and replace him with two cheaper hungry and desperate immigrants who can get the freight there faster and cheaper and if that comes at the cost of a few highway fatalities per million miles well there's no direct correlation between that and their shortsightedness.
Rmabe4@reddit
It's not happening in trucking it's happening in manufacturing and in construction too
JOliverScott@reddit
Indeed, it's almost like the whole reason behind an open border policy is to import a cheaper labor class to displace the American middle class
Rmabe4@reddit
They are going to have to go into manufacturing they have No choice
JOliverScott@reddit
Are you referring to ICE is going to have to go into workplaces and apprehend people?
Rmabe4@reddit
Checking to make sure papers are in order and legit.
jmzstl@reddit
Here’s a link to that Bureau of Labor Statistics study if anyone is interested: https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/pdf/is-the-us-labor-market-for-truck-drivers-broken.pdf
offsetbackingtoright@reddit
They give you a vison test to get your medical card. Not being able to read signs is just as bad as being blind. Anyone that disagrees with this is an idiot, morally corrupted by politically induced derangement syndrome as a result of their programming or both.
No one has any sympathy for the posts we see where some idiot does a can opener on the trailer on a clearly marked low bridge, EVERYONE says "The sign clearly says X feet Y inches". Now image if that is the reality FOR EVERY SIGN to someone that can't read English.
Simply inexcusable to be letting these people be rolling down the road endangering the general public and the people supporting it should be ashamed of themselves and IDGAF about their self-appointed self-righteousness, they are derangement syndrome idiots.
Delicious_Peace_2526@reddit
Unions. It shouldn’t be normal to be fired on the spot, or called back to the closest terminal to be fired because a safety guy saw you speed or run a top sign on a camera. You guys have rights, and you work your asses off. The industry needs to recognize that their drivers are 90% of what the company is and compensate them accordingly. The market adjusts for fuel and vehicle prices, it can adjust for labor rates as well.
SwimmerClassic5083@reddit
This. I'm a Teamster driver and will 100% not ever be s non union driver. My job is protected, I have Cadillac health insurance, and a pension. If we all Teamstered up people would be fighting tooth and nail to drive.
j33pman@reddit
Sigh. This is the one industry I wholeheartedly agree needs to re-unionize. Deregulation really made it great for big business but made life much worse for the drivers.
Vegetable_Living_415@reddit
Yep, cause unions worked out so well for UPS
StonedTrucker@reddit
I don't care about it opening up jobs or whatever. Wages are low because companies pay low wages. Poor people aren't the cause of our problems, corporations and government are.
That being said I do believe you should have to be able to communicate in English to drive a commercial vehicle. All of our road signs are in English and it's the predominant language in the US. You need to be able to communicate with people.
I think everyone living in the US should learn English. I'm totally fine with people speaking another language whenever they want but they should also know the language of the land
onlyBotsdownvote-me@reddit
I don't understand what you've said, but I'm against "fast tracking" for anyone, where there are safety-sensitive aspects involved. What?
What? Are you saying we should give immigrants a fast track to cardiovascular surgery? What?
I say, again, what?