Mar 1, 2003 12:00 PM

A proposal to allow 18-year-olds to drive commercial trucks has been denied as a result of the appropriations bill approved February 13 by the United States Congress.

The plan was a pilot program that would have allowed people from 18 to 21 years old to drive a vehicle used in interstate commerce. Section 346 of the appropriations bill says, “None of the funds in this Act may be obligated or expended by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for the development or implementation of a pilot program for the purpose of allowing commercial drivers 18 to 20 years of age to operate the trucks and buses of motor carriers in interstate commerce,” according to OOIDA.