Squirrel Tooth Alice
Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2017
- Messages
- 34
- Location
- Chardon, Ohio
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson F-40, Kubota 7040, Kubota KX057-5
This change in law was decades ago, and I don't recall all of the specifics. Back then, I drove a tow truck for a shop I worked at, and I got the CDL not because I needed it, but because it was so simple to get, there was no downside to getting it.So in Ohio you have to fill out log books even if your driving intrastate? In MI and WI and over 20 yrs ago in CA fortunately in my case you do not, driving intrastate anyway. Individual state laws vary so freaking much in the case of a CDL only making it more confusing to try and maintain one.
When the new law went into effect, the state didn't want to create unnecessary hardship for seasoned veteran truckers by forcing them to take a driving test. So, the state accepted verifiable log books in lieu of taking the test. It wasn't about intra-state versus interstate; it was simply about proving you had driving experience. There may have been other options for proving your experience beside log books... like maybe a letter from your employer. Don't recall.
At the same time, the state needed to weed out guys like me, who carried a Class A CDL despite having never driven a tractor trailer. In my case, with no log books to show, I would have had to take the driving test (at that time there was no mandatory 160 hours of training). Since I didn't have a rig to practice or take a test in, I lost the CDL.