The Trump administration is taking a wrecking ball to what officials describe as widespread abuse inside the commercial trucking industry, shutting down 270 truck driving schools that allegedly failed to meet federal requirements.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the sweeping enforcement action Monday during a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit.
According to Duffy, 110 schools were removed for violations connected to English language proficiency requirements. Those schools were associated with more than 5,000 drivers who had failed English proficiency tests.
Another 160 schools were deemed unqualified for a variety of other reasons, including improper training facilities, unlicensed instructors and inadequate testing operations.
Some of the allegations sound less like professional truck-driver education and more like somebody trying to run a CDL academy out of whatever happened to be sitting in the driveway.
“One school that we’re shutting down was so flippant, as they told us their classroom was the school bus that was in the backyard,” Duffy said.
Officials also said some instructors responsible for preparing drivers to operate massive commercial vehicles did not even possess commercial driver’s licenses themselves.
That would be roughly like discovering your flight instructor has never flown an airplane. Probably worth asking a few questions before takeoff.
Duffy also said investigators identified 10 skills testers who had issued more than 2,000 licenses to drivers who could not speak English.
Federal regulations requiring commercial drivers to understand English are not decorative paperwork. Truck drivers need to read road signs, understand law enforcement instructions, communicate during emergencies and navigate safety information while operating vehicles that can weigh tens of thousands of pounds.
The administration’s new Joint Task Force Crossroads of America is focusing heavily on trucking enforcement in the Midwest, where interstate freight traffic and cross-border commerce with Canada make commercial trucking particularly important.
The crackdown follows several deadly accidents involving noncitizen commercial drivers.
Among the cases highlighted was a 2025 crash in Fort Pierce, Florida, that killed three people. CBS Miami reported that the driver involved had previously failed the CDL written examination 10 times before ultimately obtaining a license in Washington state.
Federal and state authorities have since tightened CDL enforcement, including license cancellations in California and a temporary State Department pause involving commercial-driver visas.
The administration has also emphasized recruiting military veterans into the trucking industry while preventing drivers with serious safety violations overseas from simply obtaining American commercial licenses.
Officials argue that poorly qualified drivers do not merely create a public safety problem. They also hurt legitimate American truckers by allowing companies to use cheaper labor that may not meet established licensing standards.
“These schools are passing off these CDLs to people who haven’t earned them,” officials said during Monday’s announcement.
The human consequences were also front and center.
Marcus Coleman and his daughter Dalilah, who was severely injured in a 2024 crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver, attended the Detroit press conference.
During a tense exchange over how large a percentage of CDL holders might be unlawfully driving, officials argued that even a small number is unacceptable when preventable crashes destroy families.
“Are you willing to take that one percent if it was YOUR DAUGHTER?!” came the response.
That is the point Washington bureaucracies often forget while staring at percentages on spreadsheets. Safety standards exist because the consequences of ignoring them can be permanent.
Driving an 18-wheeler is not a participation trophy. If someone cannot meet licensing, training, communication and safety requirements, that person should not be behind the wheel.
President Trump’s Transportation Department appears determined to enforce exactly that standard.
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