Commercial driver's license insufficiency hits western North Dakota


Jackie Jahfetson, The Dickinson Press, N.D.
Mon, January 31, 2022, 

Jan. 31—DICKINSON — The American Trucking Association release an annual report, and in 2022 they estimate that the truck driver shortage will surpass historic highs as the industry desperately needs more than 80,000 drivers to maintain the status quo. This figure alone highlights the high demand for drivers based as freight and logistical chains remain gridlocked across much of the country.

Over the past few months, the shortages of qualified and experienced truck drivers have created significant issues in North Dakota leading to the slowing of distribution of goods, which has greatly impacted supply chains for businesses. This issue hit home recently with the closure of two major milk distributors in North Dakota: Lakeview Dairy and Red River Dairy.

On Jan. 25, Gov. Doug Burgum announced an effort to remedy the problem by waiving portions of the U.S. Department of Transportation's regulations concerning how many hours drivers of commercial vehicles transporting milk can work.

The news comes as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented new guidelines requiring that all entry level driver training across the country require students to have a minimum of 40 hours — practical, class and behind-the-wheel time. The change will go into effect on Feb. 7.

Street Operations Manager David Clem addressed the new requirements and how the city plans to maintain cohesive operations under the new laws.

"... As a city... when you're trying to hire employees that don't have a CDL (commercial driver's license)... well, there's a cost to that. And some of these training schools, they can be pretty costly," Clem said.

The city entered into a one-year contract with J. J. Keller & Associates — based out of Wisconsin — which will allow Dickinson to become a certified private entity to train its employees while maintaining compliance with the new rules.

The city has sent four of its employees to become certified trainers who will return and begin the process of training new hires. The program will be accredited through the Federal Motor Carriers Act.

Once those new employees complete the proper training, they will be able to take the final test at the DMV to obtain their CDL — required to operate many of the larger vehicles owned by the city. The Public Works' budget will bear the $15,000 cost needed to launch this effort and are expected, by the end of February, to have those trainers ready to go.

Though Clem said they'd prefer to hire people with a CDL out of the gate, that's not always the case. Having the ability to adapt and train new hires in-house will be beneficial moving forward, he added.

"... We figure this gives us a little opportunity to give back to our current employees and also bring new employees in and show the value of us, (saying), 'Hey, we're going to spend the time (and) the effort to train you.' So hopefully the longevity is there," he said. "A lot of people are out there chasing that money. So it makes it a little tough on entities like the city and little small businesses. So we're trying to just get ahead of the curve."

In Public Works, the city has approximately 56 employees that operate various classes —
A, B and C — of CDLs from tractor-trailers, straight trucks to tank trucks. These operators range from all the divisions of Public Works, including Buildings and Grounds, Cemetery, Forestry, Recycling, Solid Waste, Storm Water, Street, Waste Water and Water Distribution.

"Our operators just don't operate the equipment. They do everything. They go from trucks to trailers, they haul equipment, we do all kinds of things. So you got to be robust... When you come to the city and in Public Works, you can be on a blade one day, you can be in a dump truck, you can be in a snow plow. And so it's... (an) advantage if you have a CDL or we help you obtain a CDL," Clem noted.

To recruit city operators, it can be a challenge especially in the oil and gas market with competitive wages, Clem said, adding that he spent more than 28 years in the oil and gas industry.

"A lot of the younger generation, they're chasing that money and it's tough. They're looking at now, not the future. I think we've all been there. I'm 50, so I remember I chased the money back in the day too," he said. "But coming to the city, you can make it a career. You can be here for 20 (to) 30 years."

The city has a 90-day probation period for new hires and that gives those employees the time to obtain their CDL if they haven't already done so, Clem noted. With four upcoming trainers on site, the city will be able to document that training via the national database, which will "hold everybody to the same standard."

"That really puts a kibosh on backyard training, so to speak. So now, it's regulated — your classroom hours, you're practical, your behind-the-wheel — it's all regulated," he said.

Clem noted that the trucking industry has affected the city of Dickinson from week delays in shipments from street line paint.

"Trucking is what keeps North America alive and there's a lot of regulations. I'm not disagreeing with any of them. But at the end of the day, it makes it tough when you don't have the trucks on the road, bringing the material that you ordered... (It's) just like rail cars. If you don't have rail getting your oil out and you don't want to put it into pipelines, what's oil going to do? It's going to sit," Clem said. "So transportation is very big."

Chief Street Maintenance Operator Darryl Wehner, who's been with the City of Dickinson for 36 years, received his CDL through Dickinson State University and began his career at the city shortly thereafter.

"A lot of the stuff that we're going to have to teach in this doesn't apply to the city because we're not driving over the road... We're going to be teaching our guys more than we need to know for here, but it's a good thing... It also helps all of our drivers understand what other CDL drivers have," Wehner said.