# The DRIVE-SAFE Act: What You Need to Know

This bill creates a new apprenticeship program that allows teenagers and young adults under 21 to legally drive commercial trucks across state lines—something that's currently not allowed. Right now, federal law requires commercial drivers to be at least 21 years old. This bill punches a hole in that rule by letting companies hire drivers as young as possible (the bill doesn't specify a minimum age) as long as they follow a structured training program.

Here's how the program works: Young drivers start with a 120-hour probationary period where they must complete at least 80 hours actually driving a truck. During this time, they practice things like highway driving, city traffic, rural roads, safety awareness, and proper truck handling. They can only drive trucks equipped with automatic transmissions, collision avoidance systems, and cameras that record what happens on the road. Most importantly, they must have an experienced driver (someone at least 26 years old with a clean record) sitting in the cab with them at all times. After passing this first stage, they move to a 280-hour second probationary period with at least 160 hours of actual driving, where they learn backing up, pre-trip inspections, coupling procedures, and route planning. If they mess up during either stage—getting in an accident or a traffic violation—they have to do extra training until they prove they're competent again.

Once young drivers complete both probationary periods, they can drive commercially without the experienced driver riding along. The bill requires trucking companies to keep detailed records of their apprentices' progress and makes it illegal for companies to let underage drivers on the road unless they're in this program. The Transportation Department has one year to write the specific rules for how this all works. Supporters argue this addresses a truck driver shortage and gives young people job opportunities, while critics worry about safety risks of putting inexperienced teenage drivers in charge of massive vehicles on busy highways.