I would suppose, in a mode of thought paralleling the driver training rule, that I’m at the very least a banking and tax professional, since I’ve demonstrated the ability to write a whopping tax check to the gubmint time and again. Oh, I’m also a fashion model, since I’ve demonstrated the ability to dress myself and walk in a straight line. Next thing you now, I’ll be a computer genius, because I demonstrate the ability to functionally use a keyboard. I should look into taking my medical boards, since I’m probably qualified to be a doctor and a veterinarian, because I can follow written directions on a medication bottle.
No really, it’s that stupid. It really is that stupid.
Let’s just say you’re going to school to be a welder. You know, the people who make sure bridges and buildings don’t fall apart. Yeah. Let’s say you take a welding course, but only once do you weld anything. You get a certificate saying you completed a welding course, but in fact, you have only ever welded once, because your class doesn’t have a mandatory number of hours for the actual act of welding. How prepared are you to go out and find a welding job that requires you to actually weld things? I mean, you could probably stand around and talk about welding pretty good, even pass written tests on it, but when the time comes to weld something, you’ll have next to zero practical experience doing it, even though you paid ten grand to get your “welding” certificate.
That. Is. Stupid.
That’s actually beyond stupid, it’s borderline criminal. It’s bait and switch to the general public, who are unaware you have almost no practical experience, but trust that since you’ve been trained by an “accredited learning facility,” you’re able to physically perform the skills the training facility says you can. How long do you think it will take all the Mad Mother groups to find out and descend upon the industry training standard like litigious vultures? Mark my words, they will use this to disparage the industry either in a court of law or the many mainstream press outlets that delight in making us look like a bunch of uneducated fools.
Read the full text of FMCSA’s pre-CDL Entry Level Driver Training rule here.
Speaking of litigation, I’m also flabbergasted the FMCSA had the brass to put forth yet another “woefully deficient” set of rules. You’d think they’d have decided, twelve freaking years ago when they were told in Federal Court a driver training rule without mandatory hours behind the wheel was crap, they would at the very least try to make it a little different. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a job in which I got to screw around with a project for twelve years, present essentially the same flawed result I did the first time, and have no consequences whatsoever. Why are they not held accountable for the decade they’ve wasted on this?
That. Is. Stupid.
The whole thing is now stupid. They took a good thing, something people cared about and fought hard for, took time out of their own work schedules to help craft, something that really could help safety standards in the industry, and they made it something stupid. Worse than that, it will be legal for training facilities to charge people large sums of money for this stupidity. In one fell swoop, they made the rules ineffective and gave outsiders yet another way to strangle money from the industry for no good reason.
Way to go, FMCSA! Thanks for looking out for us. Maybe you could focus your attention somewhere else, before you “help” us all die a fiery death on the highway with your “safety” standards.
