My theory is that since COVID, the bar for how shitty/unprofessional a driver can be and continue to be employed has gone down significantly due to a severe and worsening shortage of drivers.

I know of one driver with 11 points on their license and zero class 1 driving experience that was hired by a reputable company recently. Another one with a rather fresh 2 month suspension and bunch of points got hired by a very reputable company too. Most companies used to want clean record, shady ones would be ok with 6-9 points. Now it's a free for all.

Industry is fucked.

I don't think truck drivers are getting the same caliber of training these days and there are lots of newbies. Too many trucking companies out there, if one goes bankrupt because of a accident like this a new one just pops up right in its place.