Jeremy Wolfe
Key takeaways
- Federal agencies are removing over 110 driver training schools and proposing to shut down more than 160 others for violations related to English proficiency and inadequate training.
- A new task force, the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, aims to coordinate enforcement efforts and prosecute illegal trucking practices across multiple jurisdictions.
- FMCSA is conducting nationwide audits of CDL skills testers to ensure tests are conducted in English.
C-SPAN
FMCSA A dministrator Derek Barrs with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and other federal officials.
Federal officials are escalating their campaign against trucking fraud—and are putting carriers on notice that hiring non-compliant drivers might lead to prosecution.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Justice (DOJ) met to announce several new enforcement activities across the trucking industry:
- Removing more driver training schools
- Auditing CDL skills tests nationwide
- Launching a new task force to prosecute illegal trucking practices
While carriers have been mostly insulated from the consequences of hiring non-English-compliant drivers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy spoke directly to those carriers:
“Watch out. We’re going to come and look at you as well,” Duffy said. “Don’t hire people who can’t speak English or can’t read English, or you’re all going to be subject to this task force.”
The new enforcement announcement further expands DOT’s aggressive campaign against fraud in the trucking industry.
Removing driver training schools
FMCSA continues cleaning up its Training Provider Registry: The latest announcement cuts over 110 providers from its list and proposes to cut 160 more. The agency identified those schools by tracing out-of-service violations and directly investigating training locations.
For those 110 providers, FMCSA is immediately removing these driver training schools from its Training Provider Registry.
Looking at the records of drivers cited for missing English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements, FMCSA tracked down providers in the Training Provider Registry that repeatedly certified drivers who did not meet the English standard.
“The 110 schools that are being shut down willfully disregarded these regulations. Every single one of these schools passed at least 10 drivers who were subsequently cited for English Language Proficiency during roadside inspections by law enforcement,” Barrs said.
Barrs named some of those schools as examples: Platinum Plus Truck Driving School in California certified 36 drivers who later faced ELP violations. One of those drivers caused a fatality in an Oklahoma crash. ASC Technical Institute in Texas certified 58 drivers who would fail ELP assessments. One of those drivers ran a stop sign and killed someone in Texas.
The agency is also issuing proposed removals to more than 160 other training locations.
In July, FMCSA conducted nearly 400 investigations into training providers. The agency found that several training providers did not have enough space to complete truck maneuvers, did not have licensed instructors, or did not have records of drivers’ assessments.
“In California, operators claimed their classroom was the back end of an open semi-trailer. Their primary instructor was out of the country. That should tell you something,” Barrs said.
At Angels Transportation, in New Jersey, Barrs said the training took place in a parking lot so small that the drivers couldn’t do basic maneuvers.
On August 31, FMCSA also worked with Homeland Security Investigations on a coordinated sweep of more than 200 driving schools across 23 states, though the results of that investigation are still pending.
The announcement extends an already thorough enforcement crackdown on English proficiency and driver training facilities. FMCSA has recorded nearly 30,000 driver out-of-service violations since enforcing the requirement in 2025. The agency has removed nearly 10,000 CDL training locations (watch out for the distinction: “locations” is different from “training providers”) since December 2025.
Auditing CDL skills tests nationwide
FMCSA is also launching a nationwide audit of state-authorized CDL skills testers in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations.
“Federal regulators require that CDL skills testers must conduct this [skills test] in English—however, that is not being done,” Barrs said.
If the audit finds that a state is not conducting the tests in English, FMCSA will give the state a formal notification of noncompliance. The state then has 30 days to create a mutually agreed-upon plan to correct the issues—or else lose access to a growing percentage of federal funds.
The task force: Real prosecution?
The new task force—the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America—is comprised of several federal, state, and local officials.
The stated purpose of the task force is to reduce criminal activity, deter illegal trucking practices, and promote consistent enforcement across jurisdictions.
“We at FMCSA are not a law enforcement agency,” Barrs said, “and we cannot prosecute these cases. That’s why we need the people that are standing behind me, and their teams, to be able to root out the bad.”
Federal agencies in the group include DOT, FMCSA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
On the state side, the task force includes attorney’s offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
“We can’t prosecute these cases at DOT,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “To have U.S. attorneys with us that are willing to lean in and prosecute—it’s important.”
Trucking industry celebrates crackdown
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) both issued statements supporting the initiatives.
American Trucking Associations
“Removing noncompliant carriers, unqualified drivers, and fraudulent training operations strengthens public confidence in our industry while ensuring that the next generation of professional drivers enters the workforce properly trained and fully qualified.”—Henry Hanscom, ATA chief advocacy and public affairs officer
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
“OOIDA and professional truck drivers across America commend Secretary Duffy and Administrator Barrs for taking concrete actions to crack down on fraudulent training operations and restore rigorous English language proficiency enforcement. Congress must now do its part and pass Dalilah’s Law to ensure CDL mills remain closed and English language proficiency enforcement is permanently made the law of the land.” — Todd Spencer, OOIDA president
