Wednesday, June 15, 2011
New federal rule: Get a CDL to drive your tractor
The Department of Transportation is asking farmers and ranchers to respond to three proposals that could have a serious impact on their ability to run their farms and ranches. The issues deal with whether agriculture is inter- or intrastate commerce and whether drivers of farm equipment should be required to have commercial driver’s licenses. JONES: Currently during planting and harvesting times you can run your vehicles long enough for you to get your crops in or out of the field. If they made the determination that a farmer or rancher needed a commercial driver’s license for a tractor or other implement. They have to go through training. There is kind of an apprentice period almost with issuing commercial driver’s licenses and there is the added fees that go along with that. So all across the nation you’re looking at restrictions in terms of when you can get things in and out of the field and you’re looking at more expenses in terms of being able to operate your farm vehicles. American Farm Bureau Transportation Specialist Elizabeth Jones says as the Department of Transportation tries to learn more about how new rules would affect U.S. agriculture, farmers and ranchers need to explain how they would affect farm labor. JONES: Farmers would have to lay out the money for the commercial driver’s license and if you have employees for whom English may not be their first language, that could be problematic. Also because other industries need CDLs you could have a situation where farmers and ranchers pay to help their employees get those licenses but then at the end of the day the employee takes it elsewhere. You have that added problem of young people not being able to participate in their family farm because they won’t be able to drive a tractor because they don’t have a commercial driver’s license because they aren’t 18 yet. JONES: Farmers would have to lay out the money for the commercial driver’s license and if you have employees for whom English may not be their first language, that could be problematic. Also because other industries need CDLs you could have a situation where farmers and ranchers pay to help their employees get those licenses but then at the end of the day the employee takes it elsewhere. You have that added problem of young people not being able to participate in their family farm because they won’t be able to drive a tractor because they don’t have a commercial driver’s license because they aren’t 18 yet.
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4 comments:
Wow, they sure are scraping the bottom of the barrel for tax revenues these days, aren't they?
You just knew this was coming when stories came out about Fedzilla's henchmen harassing folks with one ton pickups towing those gooseneck equipment haulers so common on the farm or ranch these days.
Let's not forget that having a CDL comes with a vast array of running expenses in addition to the apprenticeships and testing. At least here in Arizona, you must obtain a medical certificate every other year. Further, the time between picture updates is much shorter. By the way, are we all going to have to maintain a hazmat certification in order to pull tanker trailers around, including fertilizer? This is a much bigger problem than a lot of folks realize.
You have to wonder if the hobby farmers will be exempted from this, the same way the RV crowd is apparently exempted from having to obtain a CDL for their rigs and toy haulers. No doubt the RVers will be next, especially when one considers the glorius class warfare arguments that can be conjured up with that. I can hear it now: "Close the RV loophole". Watch out, fellow travelers!
The war on American Agriculture, and prosperity in general, is utterly relentless. Licenses for tractors? What's next, a license to operate a shovel? Yeah, I had better quit right there...
Somebody needs to be tarred and feathered and run out of town.
It's worse than tax revenue, it's a plan that ends with an eventual seizure of private property by the state, ( the federal government) it's one of the ways they hope to control food and water and us.
Brett, you joke about a license to use a shovel. But, this has been the case for several years in GA- if a work crew is doing any kind of work for hire and is disturbing the soil, someone on the crew is required to have a soil erosion certification. This is ~$150, 2 day class. It covers everything from running heavy equipment, to using a shovel.
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