The driver shortage isn’t new, and few of the initiatives to encourage more drivers have worked. But at the end of February, legislators reintroduced the DRIVE-Safe Act to allow CDL holders between 18 and 21 years old to drive interstate routes. This proposed apprenticeship program is designed to both train younger drivers in safe driving practices and ease the strain of the shortage.
But younger drivers are still a risk for most companies, especially when it comes to managing your company’s risks and liabilities. Here are a few ways to hire drivers in Texas that don’t have much experience without doubling your commercial truck insurance rates:
1. Ask your insurance provider what courses or training can demonstrate that drivers are low-risk.
Your commercial truck insurance premiums are a rough evaluation of the risk your provider thinks your company or your drivers represent. While there’s no substitute for actual driving experience, ask your service provider if they will reduce rates for new drivers that take certain courses or demonstrate other signs of safe driving behavior.
2. Only clear younger or newer drivers for part of your vehicle fleet.
If you own a company and your commercial trucking insurance covers a fleet of vehicles, it may be time to partially break that fleet up into different insurance brackets. If some of your commercial trucks are used exclusively for longer routes or for hazardous freight while other commercial trucks are saved for shorter routes with commercial freight, separate them into two groups and get different types of coverage for each. Then assign younger or less experienced drivers exclusively to the vehicles with easier routes. That minimizes the risks they represent and should lower your commercial truck insurance premiums.
Whether the DRIVE-Safe Act goes into effect or not, make sure you have a plan for insuring inexperienced drivers. For more trucking news and safe driving updates, go to J.E.B. Insurance Services, LLC here. We provide commercial truck insurance in the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.
