For many years, the struggle to find and keep drivers has probably plagued the truckload business more than any other issue. Many carriers have to deal with annual turnover rates of 100 percent or more. The industry as a whole is some 80,000 drivers short of what's needed—and that number could increase by half again if proposed hours-of-service rules are imposed.

Carriers have used a number of strategies to attract and retain drivers—buying more comfortable tractors, increasing pay, and making greater efforts to get drivers home more often. They have lately begun to make appeals to non-traditional sources of drivers, including women and immigrant groups. But still the problem persists.

Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing to recruit another source of labor. The agency may test a program to put younger drivers behind the wheel.

The DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has asked for comments on a proposed pilot program that would allow drivers aged 18 to 20 to drive trucks in interstate commerce under strict conditions. (Under current federal regulations, such drivers must be at least 21.) The proposed pilot test grew out of a petition by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), which points out that operators under 21 can legally operate commercial vehicles in intrastate commerce in every state but two. "The proposal will enable the industry to tap into a segment of the workforce that we are unable to utilize today, merely because of age limitations," said Ronnie Dowdy in a prepared statement. Dowdy is president of Ronnie Dowdy Inc. of Batesville, Ark., and chairman of the TCA's Driver Recruitment and Retention Panel.

The group says the three-year pilot program is designed to demonstrate that careful selection and screening, along with effective training, can produce a safe driver regardless of age. Under the proposal's terms, each applicant would be subject to a minimum of 48 weeks of intensive classroom training, driving instruction, and supervision. The training would include a minimum of 22 weeks of study at an approved truck-driver training school and eight weeks of training in a motor carrier's "driver finishing" program. "Driver finishing" would include instruction and on-the-job training by motor carriers that would develop the younger driver's basic skills, maturity, and judgment under the daily guidance of an experienced driver trainer. That would be followed by 18 weeks of team driving with an experienced driver. Younger drivers would be required to pass the performance standards of the entire 48-week program and be 19 years old before beginning solo driving.

The FMCSA will accept written comments on the proposal until May 21. The agency seeks comment on whether the pilot program could ensure a level of safety that is equal to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved by commercial drivers 21 and older.

Comments on the proposal should be sent to: USDOT Docket Facility, Attn: Docket No. FMCSA-2000-8410, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001. The proposal can be viewed online at the DOT's Document Management Web site, http://dms.dot.gov .