A federal review of trucking programs has put nearly 44% of the roughly 16,000 government-listed truck driving courses across the U.S. at risk of closure. The Transportation Department says it will revoke certification for almost 3,000 schools unless they meet minimum training standards within 30 days; those programs must inform enrolled students that their certification status is at risk. An additional 4,500 schools have been warned they could face similar actions.
If a school loses certification it cannot issue the completion documents students need to get a commercial driver’s license (CDL), so many trainees are expected to leave those programs. The department acknowledged that some of the targeted programs were not actively teaching students when identified.
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security has begun auditing California trucking companies owned by immigrants to verify drivers’ immigration status and whether they were properly qualified for CDLs. Officials say the stepped-up checks follow a deadly crash in Florida that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says involved a driver not authorized to be in the United States and killed three people. Duffy framed the effort as reining in “illegal and reckless practices” that allow poorly trained drivers to operate large commercial vehicles.
Duffy has threatened to withhold federal funds from states he says have lax oversight, naming California and Pennsylvania, and proposed new restrictions on which immigrants can obtain CDLs—rules a court has since put on hold. On Monday he warned Minnesota it could lose $30.4 million unless the state addresses problems in its CDL program and revokes licenses that should not have been issued or that remained valid after work permit expirations. So far, the states singled out have been led by Democrats, though the department says audits are underway in other states, including Texas and South Dakota.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s office responded that the state takes road safety seriously and that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety is working to comply with federal law.
Industry voices and advocacy groups are split. The Commercial Vehicle Training Association’s executive director, Andrew Poliakoff, said many of the schools targeted look like questionable “CDL mills” that promise training in days rather than the weeks or months of classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction that established programs provide. Poliakoff called such operators exploitative, saying they take students’ money without delivering the skills needed to pass tests or find work. His association represents about 100 schools and 400 locations; none of its members have been decertified.
The Transportation Department said the nearly 3,000 schools it moved against failed to meet training standards, did not keep accurate records and in some cases were accused of falsifying or manipulating training data. Officials added that a number of those programs had already been inactive.
Owners of small schools say compliance costs have become burdensome. One owner, Yogi Sanwal, said he closed his program in 2022 after local authorities demanded roughly $150,000 in upgrades to meet new accreditation requirements; his school had trained about 500 drivers over four to five years.
Trucking trade groups have praised stricter licensing and enforcement of English-proficiency requirements. Immigrant and civil-rights groups counter that enforcement efforts are sweeping up qualified drivers and businesses because of citizenship or immigration status. Paul J. Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association, called those who exploit regulatory loopholes “unacceptable,” while Todd Spencer of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association warned that weak training standards leave drivers unprepared and imperil public safety.
Sikh drivers and Punjabi-owned trucking firms say they have been caught in the crossfire and report harassment after the Florida crash and another deadly California collision involved Sikh drivers. The North American Punjabi Truckers Association estimates Sikh drivers make up roughly 40% of truck drivers on the West Coast and about 20% nationwide; advocacy groups put the total number of Sikh truck drivers in the U.S. at around 150,000.
United Sikhs and other advocacy organizations say Punjabi company owners have faced aggressive immigration audits and that many Sikh and immigrant truckers with clean records are being treated like suspects while they continue to move freight. They warn that policies driven by fear could fuel xenophobia, harm civil rights and disrupt the supply chain.
California has already moved to revoke about 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses after federal officials raised concerns that those licenses were improperly issued to immigrants or remained valid after work permits expired. The federal review and related state audits are expected to reshape training, licensing and enforcement practices across the industry, with significant consequences for students, owners and immigrant communities tied to trucking.
