Sean Duffy purges 3,000 trucker license training providers after illegal immigrant driver crashes

The Trump administration is widening its crackdown on what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy calls the “illegal trucking chain,” announcing the removal of nearly 3,000 commercial driver’s license (CDL) training providers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry (TPR). The administration also put Minnesota on a 30-day clock to revoke commercial licenses federal auditors say were issued unlawfully.

The Department of Transportation said the training-provider removals target schools and programs that failed to meet federal requirements designed to ensure new commercial drivers are properly prepared before operating semi-trucks and school buses. Another 4,500 training providers were placed on notice for potential noncompliance as FMCSA began a broader review of roughly 16,000 providers listed on the registry.

Federal officials said providers were removed for conduct including alleged falsification or manipulation of training data, failure to meet required curriculum or instructor standards, and incomplete recordkeeping or refusal to provide documents during audits and investigations. FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Barrs framed the action as a blunt message to the industry: providers unwilling to follow the rules “have no place training America’s commercial drivers.”
 

"This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain. Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, 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," said Duffy. "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."

At the same time, the Department of Transportation is threatening to withhold more than $30 million in federal highway funding from Minnesota after an FMCSA audit found that roughly one-third of the state’s non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were issued illegally, according to DOT and multiple reports. Minnesota has 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the licenses or risk losing the money, federal officials said.

Duffy also amplified the ultimatum, posting that Minnesota is “on notice” and must fix the problem within 30 days or lose the funding, citing an FMCSA finding that “one third” of non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally.

The administration’s push also follows a string of fraud revelations spotlighting how unqualified drivers can be pushed through the licensing pipeline. Skyline CDL School, operating in Washington and Oregon, came under investigation after allegations that it funneled cash bribes to an independent, state-certified examiner in exchange for passing grades, effectively allowing some students who could not meet standards to obtain CDLs.

The White House has explicitly tied these actions, tightening training oversight and forcing states to clean up improperly issued licenses, to a series of catastrophic crashes involving illegal immigrant truck drivers that prior reporting has tracked. Those cases include the Florida wreck tied to Harjinder Singh, the California pileup involving Partap Singh that critically injured a young child, the Southern California I-10 disaster involving Jashanpreet Singh, and the Oregon crash involving Rajinder Kumar. Pressure has grown for federal enforcement that reaches beyond immigration policy and into the training, testing, and licensing systems that put drivers behind the wheel of heavy commercial vehicles.