Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that nearly 3,000 commercial driver’s license (CDL) training providers have been removed from a federal registry as part of the crackdown on illegal test training centers, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a statement on Dec. 1.
The changes were made in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry, which lists all centers authorized to offer entry-level driver training and whose regulations set the minimum federal training requirements that entry-level drivers must complete.
A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) compliance review of 16,000 CDL training providers found 3,000 failing to equip trainees with the Trump administration’s standards of readiness for drivers.
These centers falsified or manipulated training data, failed to maintain accurate and complete documentation, refused to provide records during federal investigations or audits, or neglected to meet the required curriculum standards, instructor qualifications, or facility conditions, according to the DOT.
“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy said.
“[Under the previous administration,] bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.
“Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.
“Under President Trump, we are reigning in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”
An additional 4,500 CDL training providers were put on notice for potential noncompliance.
According to the DOT, CDL training providers that receive a notice must respond to the FMCSA within 30 days and provide proof of compliance to avoid being removed from the registry.
The DOT stated that the deletion of 3,000 CDL training providers is the latest action taken by the department and FMCSA to remove unqualified drivers and corrupt operators from the U.S. trucking industry.
On Sept. 26, the FMCSA stated that it had conducted a nationwide audit that uncovered a “catastrophic pattern” of states issuing CDLs to foreign nationals illegally.
Duffy announced emergency actions to make noncitizens ineligible for a nondomiciled CDL unless they meet “a much stricter” set of rules, including a mandatory federal immigration status check through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.
“Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers—often times illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it,” he said.
These actions follow a series of accidents involving immigrant drivers that killed or injured several people in the United States.
For instance, in August, an illegal immigrant from India was accused of causing a crash when he made an illegal U-turn while driving an 18-wheeler that ended up killing three people in Florida.
In September, another illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly causing a multicar pile-up while driving his 18-wheeler, which ended up causing critical injuries to a 5-year-old girl.
Andrew Poliakoff, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, which includes 100 schools with 400 locations nationwide, said many of the schools being decertified were questionable “CDL mills” that advertised the ability to train drivers in just a few days.
He said those questionable schools were really just “fleecing people out of money” without teaching them the skills they need to get hired or pass the test.
CDL Lawsuit
On Sept. 29, FMSCA published an interim final rule that limited eligibility for nondomiciled CDLs to a few groups, such as holders of H-2A and H-2B visas. In October, a petition seeking a review of the interim final rule was filed. Nondomiciled refers to individuals who are not U.S. citizens.
In a Nov. 13 ruling, a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the DOT from enforcing the rules.
The appeals court said the federal government failed to follow proper procedures when drafting the rule. The government also did not “articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.”
“Whereas FMCSA does not appear to have demonstrated any safety benefit from the rule, the county petitioner has furnished evidence that the rule would harm public safety by forcing it to replace safer experienced drivers with less-safe new drivers,” it stated.
In a Nov. 17 statement, the United Sikhs group welcomed the court decision, arguing that the interim final rule harms lawful immigrant drivers and worsens the nationwide truck driver shortage.
“The rule unfairly punishes immigrants who work hard and contribute to society and we are grateful for this stay, but the fight for fairness continues,” said Wanda Sanchez Day, chief legal officer for the group.
The DOT told Minnesota on Dec. 1 that it must revoke CDLs issued illegally to noncitizens or risk losing $30.4 million in federal highway funding.
A DOT audit found that Minnesota issued nondomiciled CDLs to drivers whose legal status in the United States had already expired and to those who are prohibited from obtaining such licenses.
“The department will withhold funding if Minnesota continues this reckless behavior that puts non-citizens gaming the system ahead of the safety of Americans,” Duffy said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
