Part of the problem is insurance companies.
They want drivers with 3-5 years of squeaky clean driving records.
When you drive professionally, and drive more miles in 1 year than most people drive in a life time.. your bound to catch a ticket once in 3-5 years.
There is a national database kept of all your interactions with the law, weigh stations and the outcome of all inspections.
Some companies are checking credit reports and passing on people they think are a risk (like the out of work guy who went through truck driving school while passing on some bill payments)
basically, few existing drivers can continue to pass the anal probe.
There is no insurance company I’m aware of that requires 3 to 5 years of driving experience. And I’ve seen most of the industry’s underwriting guidelines for drivers.
There are quite a few trucking companies that have more stringent requirements for new-hires that their insurance companies. Those that haul hazmat or high-value cargo,for example.
For those that would criticize the insurance industry, remember we are the ones who pay the claims on the accidents that the drivers are involved in. If you look at the property/casualty industry loss ratio for the past 10 years you’ll see that the overall combined loss ratio is well above 100. And the operating ratio for the past 5 years also is above 100.