FMCSA triggers 30-day countdown on teen driver exemption

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have officially opened the door for public debate on whether to keep the nation’s under-21 interstate trucking program alive.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration posted a formal notice on Tuesday requesting comments on the American Trucking Association’s five-year exemption request that would allow carriers to continue onboarding 18-to-20-year-old drivers despite the statutory expiration of the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot (SDAP) program last November.

Carriers enrolled in SDAP have been allowed to employ drivers under the age of 21 to haul across state lines, which is currently prohibited under federal regulations.

The public has 30 days – until February 27 – to weigh in on a debate between large-scale fleets looking to maintain driver recruitment momentum and those who warn that SDAP’s failed experiment” should remain closed.

The comment period likely will conclude just as the U.S. Department of Transportation prepares to hand its final SDAP safety report to Congress on March 10, 2026.

FMCSA’s decision to open a public comment period acknowledged ATA’s contention that the SDAP program, through quarterly reports, “demonstrate positive safety outcomes, including millions of miles driven by program participants without reportable crashes,” the notice states. “ATA believes that continuing the regulatory relief under an exemption would create minimal administrative burdens for FMCSA or participating motor carriers.”

While SDAP officially ended on November 7, 2025 – which FMCSA emphasized in its notice as a correction to ATA’s claim that FMCSA “has not acted to end” the program – the agency has offered a limited extension to apprentices who were already enrolled and had completed training but had not yet turned 21. ATA’s petition, if granted, would allow new apprentices to be onboarded only with motor carriers that were previously approved to participate in the SDAP program.

Opposition: Threat to safety, wages

While ATA views SDAP as a success, extending it faces strong pushback from safety advocates and owner-operators, with opponents arguing the program is a “failed experiment” that is a threat to public safety.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Truck Safety Coalition, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and Parents Against Tired Truckers, have urged the FMCSA to reject the extension based on several points:

Higher crash risk: Safety groups cite data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showing that drivers aged 19–20 are several times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than those over 21.
Biological development: Safety groups point to research showing the prefrontal cortex – the brain region vital for decision-making and risk assessment – is often not fully developed until a person reaches their mid-20s.
Low participation rates: OOIDA labels SDAP a “failure,” noting that while it was designed for up to 3,000 drivers, only 80 individuals ever applied to be apprentices, and only 62 motor carriers were approved to participate out of more than 200 applications.
Wage suppression concerns: Owner-operators argue that the push for younger drivers is a tactic by large fleets to access “cheapest labor possible” and suppress industry-wide wages, rather than a genuine effort to address a driver shortage they believe is a myth.
Premature request: Opponents contend that FMCSA should not take action on ATA’s request until DOT delivers the final report to Congress.