Training regulations hit already-tight farm truck driver market

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The demand for truck drivers — and especially drivers in the agricultural sector — isn’t going away anytime soon.

“I talk to a farmer probably every day and they are struggling, ag businesses are struggling, in terms of trying to find truck drivers. There’s still a shortage. There’s going to be a shortage and that shortage is going to probably continue to increase, unfortunately,” said Rodney Knittel, assistant director of transportation and infrastructure for Illinois Farm Bureau.

In February, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Entry Level Driver Training regulations took effect. The regulation establishes minimum training standards for anyone applying for a Class A or a Class B commercial driver’s license for the first time.

Knittel said that while most farmers in the state won’t have to worry about the ELDT requirement, farmers should be aware of one requirement that goes along with driving a covered farm vehicle or a farm-plated semi.

“Many states just require a regular driver’s license to drive a farm-plated vehicle. In Illinois, we either have to have a CDL or a non-CDL Class A license with a J51 restriction to drive a covered farm vehicle in Illinois,” he said.

Knittel said farmers can also register as a semi driving training provider.

“Any business, including a farm, can register through the FMCSA as a training provider. If someone has had a CDL and driving experience for two years or more, they can train their own employees. There’s no cost to register and no test to become a training provider,” he said.

More information on registering as a training provider is available at https://tpr.fmcsa.dot.gov/Provider.

Even though harvest for many Illinois farmers might be a few weeks away, Knittel advised farmers to get a start on their harvest permits.

Harvest permits, with the accompanying 14-day route authorizations, are available through the Illinois Department of Transportation automated permitting website, Illinois Transportation Automated Permits, at https://webapps.dot.illinois.gov/itap, and allow vehicles to carry 10% over the vehicle’s legal load when traveling on state routes with ag commodities. The permits became available Sept. 1 and will be available through Dec. 31.

“It’s a good idea to do it sooner rather than later. You have to have route authorizations so you can go ahead and you have to have those route authorizations done every 14 days. You can put your routes into your application now and save those. We are not at the busy time yet, so it’s a good time to get into ITAP, get enrolled, make sure you are registered and put your routes in. Those permits are good for state routes only,” Knittel said.

For ag truckers who cross state lines or who deliver to terminals or elevators where the next movement of grain is out of state, Knittel said it is necessary to have a U.S. DOT number and an International Fuel Tax Agreement sticker.

“Any time that you cross state lines or, really, any time you haul to a river terminal or to a large train terminal and that next move of grain is out of state, some of these continuous flow elevators with large train roundabouts, where the DOT officer can determine that the next destination of the grain is more than likely out of state, you have to have a DOT number,” he said.

Two more tips are for farm truck and ag truck drivers to wear their seatbelts and to make sure that their trucks and trailers are in good, legal working order.

“There is no federal exemption that exists for a farmer exempting them from a seatbelt,” said Sgt. Thomas Burgett of the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.

“Nine times out of 10, we pull a farmer over and they aren’t wearing a seatbelt and they say, ‘I thought I was exempt.’ You are exempt if you are stopped by somebody who doesn’t have the capability to cite federal regulation, but we do. So, definitely wear your seatbelt. It’s a very easy reason to get stopped.”

Burgett also urged farmers to add their trucks and trailers to their pre-harvest maintenance checklists.

“A lot of times, farmers, it seems, have a large checklist of things they are going through and, for whatever reason, maintenance on their commercial motor vehicle doesn’t seem like something that is on that list,” he said.

“Take the time. Go through the brakes, measure your push rods, know what your brake inspection limitations are and make sure your vehicle is safe to be operating on the road.”