ORLANDO, Fla. — Charles Loftus stormed out of his house after his doorbell rang, found himself after hours of phone calls, texts, and felt ready to give up.

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Twenty-five years on the road as a set driver have accustomed him to being alone. He had traveled to 48 states carrying gear, missing vacations, weddings and birthdays. He gave up everything to focus on his family a few years ago, but headlines about a nationwide driver shortage – and the promise of a pay rise from his employer if he renewed his driver’s license drive commercial – put it back in the game.

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None of those stories mattered when he called the local tax collector’s office, who told him he had to go back to school, side by side with teenagers who had never taken the flying.

“Apparently everything changed on February 7 for CDL pilots,” he said. “Nobody knows what’s going on.”

New rules, new confusion

Loftus unwittingly became one of the first Floridians to be linked to misinformation ricocheting through the industry, tied to new federal guidelines for truck driver training.

The requirement, known as Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT), had been in the works for years but only rolled out a few weeks ago. They have standardized driver training courses across the country, ensuring that new drivers have a minimum of training, often in the form of a 40-hour training course and several weeks of hands-on training.

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Loftus was told by multiple agencies that since he had dropped his CDL and was no longer active, he would fall under the new training guidelines. A woman from another truck driving school confirmed to Eyewitness News that only active truck drivers were exempt.

It was not true.

“ELDT regulations are not retroactive; individuals who received a CDL…before February 7, 2022 are not required to undergo training,” the ELDT website states.

A form provided by the Florida Trucking Association clarified this further.

“Driver is not required to complete entry-level driver training for the previously issued license or endorsement, even if it has since expired,” it read.

However, the mistake cost Loftus an entire day of work sorting through red tape, resolved only when Eyewitness News put him in touch with regulatory agency employees who were able to view his driving record. He’ll still have to pass a few tests and carry a license for 14 days before being cleared for a new CDL, but it won’t cost him the thousands the other roster would have.

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It is unclear why several driving schools and employees of tax collectors thought otherwise. They could confuse the rules with drivers who only carry learner’s permits, since expired permits do not qualify. Or, they might just be unfamiliar with the newly changed rules.

“It could just be a simple misunderstanding with tax collector staff getting to grips with the new rules,” Florida Trucking Association President Alix Miller said.

Another breach in the system

Throughout his interview, Loftus expressed his deep frustration with the trucking industry in North America. Frustrations, he said, that sparked protests that rocked Canada for weeks and led to a shortage of 90,000 drivers in the United States.

His complaints focused on two parts: the overregulation of an industry by people who have college degrees instead of driving experience, and the lack of respect for truckers by consumers and politicians who rely on them.

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The first objection was simple. Loftus said many of the requirements imposed on drivers these days don’t make sense, or once sensible guidelines have been distorted by decades of white-collar meetings and focus groups.

“Not everyone at FMCSA has ever driven a truck, but they set guidelines for us drivers,” he said, using the acronym for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the body director of the American trucking industry. “If you’ve never been in the seat, how do you know what guidelines to take?”

He cited the decrease in allowances for driving time, recalling a particularly unreasonable proposal he had heard of that would have limited drivers to a standard 5-day working week. He said he often didn’t have enough time to strap on his gear and go through security checks, which cut into his driving hours. He also spat on the recently announced pilot program that allows teenage drivers to cross state lines, wondering how anyone trained on Florida’s flat highways would be qualified to descend a mountain in North Carolina.

“That’s just stupid,” he said. “You’re putting guns in the hands of kids who weigh 80,000 pounds.”

The deeper issue extended to the respect his industry receives. Truckers are often overlooked as a part of society – millions of men and women traveling the country’s highways with far less visibility than police officers, politicians and teachers.

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Without them, however, society would crumble – but their frustrations at how they are treated boil over, causing many, like Loftus, to give up.

“The drivers are tired. If the trucks in this country shut down, this country will shut down,” he said. “[You used to] seeing truckers at truck stops get out of their trucks and help other drivers like it’s a family affair. They don’t do any of that anymore. Truckers don’t care anymore. And it’s sad.

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