The U.S. House and Senate last week passed the fiscal year 2024 transportation funding bill, which included a provision to help get the languishing Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot (SDAP) Program on track.
SDAP, a three-year program will help individuals aged 18 to 20 explore interstate trucking careers, has been plagued by low participation since its 2022 launch. Currently, only 29 fleets are registered to participate (the Biden administration expected upwards of 1,000). The apprenticeship program was capped at 3,000 participating drivers at any one time but, to date, only three dozen have enrolled.
[Related: FMCSA's under-21 driver pilot program opens: Here's how it works]
“The Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program was intended to bolster new career pathways into interstate trucking while promoting safety and training standards that far exceed the bar set by states today," said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. "Unfortunately, burdensome and unnecessary requirements imposed by FMCSA sharply limited enrollment."
The bipartisan infrastructure law enacted in 2021 included a nationwide pilot program to create a pathway for drivers under the age of 21 to operate in interstate commerce, provided the motor carrier met a list of safety standards. Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) required participating fleets to register their apprenticeship programs with the U.S. Department of Labor and equip their trucks with inward-facing cameras, neither of which were included in the bipartisan infrastructure law that established the SDAP and layers Spear saw as burdensome to program participation.
[Related: Here's how to get your under-21 drivers insured]
International Foodservice Distributors Association, who championed the pilot's reform alongside ATA, noted passage of the bill and removing those additional requirements will "restore the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot program to its original intent and increase opportunities for qualified younger drivers to receive rigorous training and safely enter the foodservice distribution workforce," said Mark S. Allen, the organization's president and CEO.
