The Trump administration has ordered the shutdown of 270 commercial truck-driving schools as part of a sweeping federal crackdown on alleged fraud, inadequate training and violations of longstanding English-language requirements for commercial drivers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the actions Monday in Detroit alongside Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, federal prosecutors and officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
The Department of Transportation said 110 commercial driver’s license, or CDL, training schools were being removed from the federal registry after being linked to more than 5,000 drivers who failed English-language proficiency requirements. Another 160 schools were shut down or targeted for removal over failures to meet federal training standards.
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Duffy said the administration was targeting schools that knowingly allowed drivers who could not meet the federal English requirement to obtain commercial licenses.
“We want well-skilled, well-trained truck drivers on American roads,” Duffy said, adding that drivers who are not properly trained, skilled or licensed should not be operating 80,000-pound commercial vehicles.
English requirement becomes central to crackdown
The administration’s action puts renewed focus on the federal requirement that commercial motor vehicle drivers be able to communicate in English and understand highway signs and safety instructions.
Duffy argued that the requirement has existed for decades and said the Trump administration did not create it. He accused some trucking schools of certifying drivers who did not meet the standard.
The Transportation Department previously said it had identified approximately 75 entry-level driver-training schools suspected of fraudulent practices, including falsified training records, improper certifications and inadequate instruction. The agency also said nearly 10,000 training providers had been removed from its registry since the Trump administration began its broader review.
The latest action expands the crackdown beyond individual drivers to the schools and testing system that train and certify commercial drivers.
The federal government also announced a nationwide audit of third-party CDL testers and state oversight of those testers. Officials said some certified testers were not adequately evaluating applicants before licenses were issued.
DHS joins trucking enforcement
The crackdown is also becoming an immigration-enforcement operation.
Homeland Security Investigations said it would conduct coordinated inspections at more than 200 driving schools and other trucking-related businesses across 23 states. Federal investigators have identified potential cases involving fraudulent CDL issuance, unauthorized employment, identity-document fraud, shell companies and other criminal activity.
Federal officials said more than 1,000 CDL-related business leads had been shared with investigators, while HSI field offices had issued more than 80 notices of inspection.
Mullin has linked the trucking investigation to the administration’s broader immigration enforcement strategy, including efforts targeting undocumented immigrants holding commercial driver’s licenses.
The administration has also highlighted previous enforcement actions against drivers who failed English-language inspections. DOT said it had removed more than 24,000 drivers from the roads for failing to meet English requirements and forced states to cancel more than 28,000 licenses it said had been improperly issued to foreign drivers.
Broader push to tighten CDL system
The administration says the initiative is intended to address what it describes as systemic weaknesses in the commercial licensing system rather than simply punish individual drivers.
Federal agencies are investigating trucking companies, training schools, state licensing practices and employers. The Justice Department said the investigations can also involve labor exploitation, money laundering, human smuggling, drug trafficking and potential cartel connections.
The crackdown follows a series of steps by the Trump administration to tighten commercial driving rules and increase federal oversight of state licensing systems.
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For Indian Americans and other immigrant communities involved in the U.S. trucking industry, the enforcement campaign could have particular significance because commercial trucking has long provided an employment pathway for immigrants. The administration, however, says its focus is on safety, licensing integrity and compliance with existing federal requirements rather than nationality.
The federal government is now moving toward a more aggressive enforcement model in which trucking schools, testers, employers and drivers can all face scrutiny.
Officials say the objective is to reduce dangerous driving, eliminate fraudulent licensing and ensure that only properly trained and qualified drivers operate commercial trucks on U.S. roads.