From eTrucker: WATC launches first online commercial driver course I guess we now know what Levicoff has been up to.
That is interesting. You know, I always used to wonder if some folks got their driver's license via DL because of how poorly they drove. clint
Hardly, oxpecker. This is not an online commercial driving course by any means, it is merely a training module designed to meet new regulations that require commercial drivers with less than one years experience to have training in certain supplemental areas such as maximum driving hours, whistleblower protection, and wellness. I find the cited article questionable because of the statement, "Students who participate and pass the online exam will receive a Federal Motor Carrier Association certification." First, there is no Federal Motor Carrier Association - the regulatory agency that requires the training is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which governs all areas of interstate trucking regulations. Second, the training can be designed and implemented by employers, and there is no federal certification at all for the training. (On commercial drivers licenses, there are endorsements, not certifications. The endorsements cover specializations such as transporting hazardous materials, double and triple trailers, tankers, passenger vehicles, school students, etc. The only significant certification program under the indirect auspices of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration is Highway Watch, an anti-terrorism training program, in which I am a certified instructor.) Moreover, the headline of the article, "WATC launches first online commerical driver course," is also misleading. There is a legit commercial driving school in Florida that implemented an online/distance ed course about five years ago for the theory portion of the commercial license requirements, the so-called "knowledge tests" (which are quite comprehensive). Even then, they required students to attend the Florida campus for the practical portion of their training (basic skills maneuvers and on-the-road training). When we talk about commercial vehicles, we're talking about trucks that are up to 65 feet long and can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The notion that one can learn to drive them online, or exclusively by distance in any manner, is absurd. Moreover, no reputable company would hire a rookie driver who had not gone through a residential training program. (That said, I did do my own CDL training non-traditionally and, now having almost eight years tractor-trailer experience under my belt, could walk into any position in light of the continuing driver shortage. And no, I won't tell anyone how I did it. )
Whew! I was about to faint just thinking of the postage for mailing an eighteen wheeler to my house...
Of course - but I think there's one already . . . Just take the theory courses through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (a long-time played in D/E), then pay the Russians $1 million for the, um, practicum.
