WASHINGTON — The trucking industry is sounding off on U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement to crackdown on CDL mills and his comments on the topic of a driver shortage in the country.
During a press conference Oct. 30, 2025, Duffy was asked about the enforcement of regulations on non-domiciled drivers and how that would impact trucking.
“There are a lot of Americans who would like to get behind the wheel of a big rig,” Duffy said. “These are and have been, really great paying jobs. But, when you bring someone in who doesn’t have a drivers license, they will drive that truck for a much lower rate or someone who illegally got that license, they’ll drive that rig for a much lower rate. What’s happened in the industry is that they’ve driven their prices down. A lot of companies that have been around for a very long time are now starting to go out of business. I do not buy the idea that there are not enough American truck drivers. To the contrary, there are enough American truck drivers to meet the demands we have in this country. This was concocted in a way to allow people to come into our country to get commercial driver’s licenses unlawfully and then get behind the wheel. I don’t think that is the appropriate approach.”
Truckers Take Their Jobs Seriously
“We have a long history of great American truck drivers,” Duffy said. “Like our air traffic controllers or our pilots, they take their jobs very seriously. What they do on American roads they think is of utmost importance, because it’s not just their lives, it’s the lives of the people around them on our highways and freeways they are concerned about every single day.”
Duffy noted that truckers are “great professionals.”
“I think you’ll see that American truck drivers fill the space when we do what’s right and take out these unlawful drivers,” Duffy said.
Duffy also said that safety should never be compromised.
Tell People How Great Trucking Is
“Never should we put an unqualified driver in big rig, an 18-wheeler, and set them loose on out roads and think that that’s a great solution,” Duffy said. “You’ve seen the videos. People die when we do that. That is not the answer. If you need more drivers, make the case. Tell People how great the industry is, how much you can make in a year by driving a truck. It it will be met by a number of applicants if we need those new truck drivers to come in. I feel very confident that if we take out the unlawful, untrained, non-English speaking drivers, we will not have an issue on the roadways. We will not have issues with our deliveries. Our products will move, but they will move safer because we will have better drivers who are driving those big rigs who have legal licenses and can actually speak the English language.”
American Trucking Associations
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) applauded USDOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for enforcing regulations that “aligns with ATA’s longstanding priority to keep roads safe by enhancing training, testing and licensing standards for CDL-holders.”
Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs unveiled new actions to investigate and crack down on fraudulent “CDL mills” and other noncompliant Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) programs across the country. Additionally, the agencies pledged to continue their effort to enforce English language proficiency standards as a baseline requirement for operating on our nation’s roadways.
“Proper driver training is the baseline for highway safety, which is why we commend Secretary Duffy and Administrator Barrs for closing dangerous loopholes, enforcing existing regulations, and ensuring that only qualified, well-trained drivers are operating on our nation’s roadways,” said Chris Spear, ATA president, CEO. “Thanks to their leadership, we are making significant strides to root out bad actors and ensure every new commercial driver receives high-quality, consistent training before getting behind the wheel.”
Self-Certification
According to the ATA, currently, CDL schools are allowed to self-certify that their training programs comply with federal ELDT standards before their students test for a commercial driver’s license. These providers are then listed in FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry, which is intended to serve as a trusted resource for drivers and motor carriers. However, the integrity of that system has been undermined by insufficient oversight and enforcement to verify that providers are, in fact, meeting required safety and training standards.
“As the largest national association representing the trucking industry, ATA and its members recognize the critical importance of a trained, qualified driver workforce,” Spear said. “By continuing to partner with the Trump Administration, we can ensure that all drivers meet our high standards of safety and professionalism.”
ATA has repeatedly called for stronger oversight and accountability to eliminate fraudulent or substandard CDL training providers that undermine roadway safety and public confidence. Earlier this month, ATA sent a letter to Congress urging greater federal action to identify and remove noncompliant training providers from FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry as well as strengthen enforcement of ELDT moving forward. In April, ATA also sent a letter to DOT outlining specific enforcement measures needed to strengthen compliance with ELDT requirements and protect the integrity of the training, testing, and licensing processes nationwide.
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
“Secretary Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Barrs are right to crack down on CDL mills and the trucking companies that rely on unqualified drivers,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA president. “Years of misguided ‘driver shortage’ policies have flooded America’s roadways with poorly trained newcomers operating 80,000-pound trucks and innocent motorists are paying the price. Trucking is a skilled profession, not cheap labor. We applaud the Trump Administration’s commitment to restoring standards in trucking that will not only save lives, but help improve professionalism in our industry.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
Isn’t this the guy that just bragged about cancelling funding to his state inspector collaborations?
Anybody glad to see both sides of his mouth werk well?
Yeah that FREE Market = No Federal regulations …works out great for you smartass Americans …the stupidity in this country …geeze
The perpetration of immigrant drivers and companies has been intentional for several years now.Safety has suffered ,American drivers have suffered and US companies combined have been victims of falling rates .The DOT is powerless ,if not totally incompetent of dealing with this crisis or admitting there is one. It is as big as illegal immigration itself and the roots go deeply right into our legal system.No English is spoken often ,they don’t need to ,foreign companies dispatch from Eastern Europe and even South America in a foreign language to immigrant drivers using tablet ELDs programmed from other domicile countries .They drive the rates down across the board so US citizens cannot survive on trucker wages.
THAT PART!!!
The bigger problem is that new carriers actually have no clue how to run a trucking company. The application itself only requires an individual to self certify that they know the regulations and and the record keeping requirements and they definitely do not provide training on how to hire or on-board a driver employee. Just check the daily Federal Register for how many new carriers are given their authority to operate without knowing the first thing about hiring a driver to put behind the wheel of their new $200,000, 80,000 pound moving bomb. Hell, 90% of the drivers I see these days don’t even know how to use a screwdriver! That is just ridiculous to me. Add in all these third party providers that have ways of getting around regulations, or creating documents that don’t exist and there is your recipe for disaster.
Speaking English DOES NOT ensure safety. https://youtu.be/Jjz43GgmvU0?si=R_nufhVtk9ciH6wn. In 2013, this English speaking driver hit and killed officer Tim Huffman, an AZ state trooper because he was distracted watching a video on his phone while driving! If you do some research, you will see that in the first half of 2025, there were 2661 fatal crashes involving trucks. 5% of ALL drivers are NON Domiciled CDL holders. Only 12 fatal accidents involved NON Domiciled CDL holders. That equals to .004% of fatal crashes involved foreign drivers. All of this information is available thru the FMCSA.
It all comes down to training. If the driver involved in the accident listed on this article had been properly trained, he would have known to look far enough ahead to stop. Red stop lights work the same in any language. Schools should have the same curriculum, and testing should be more rigorous for ALL students. In WA, all students MUST pass the skills tests in English.
PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH AND RESPOND RESPONSIBLY. We do not need more fearmongering or scapegoating.
BETTER TRAINING = BETTER DRIVERS.
Most drivers today are nothing more than sternwheel holders and many new drivers leave the industry because when it is all figured out most drivers only make minumin wage they work 60 hours a week 240 hours a month for over the road truckers there is no over time pay and many local frieght companies only pay straight time and waste hauling companies pay overtime but that is the only way a driver can make a decent living
With about 3.5 million accident free miles on the roads I can say there are many issues that are impacting highway safety. Non English speaking is definitely up there on my list. But likewise is the large company “puppy mill” driving programs that meet government standards to self test but put basically clueless warm bodies behind the wheel to start turning them profit. They operate on an estimated loss factor for the mistakes the new drivers will make and then flush them for the next victim who wants to drive. All the while paying them a reduced rate for their “training” secondly now that technology has arrived in the cabs. Drivers never learn how to rationalize out issues because they are relying on all the sensors to let them know what to do. The more take that enters the cab the less qualified the drivers are behind the wheel.
I ship everyday at my business and I don’t think I’ve seen a driver in the last year that spoke any English. makes it very difficult to explain the BOL and everything involved. I usually have to call the broker and tell them. and there’s ALWAYS some kind of issue with delivery. usually the time. they’re always late. or a weight distribution problem because they never know how to move the rear axle. most don’t even know it moves. also, on a side note, in the last year I don’t think any of those drivers wore any type of boot or even a sneaker. they all have open toe sandals on. I know you don’t need boots or sneakers to drive a truck, I just think it’s very unprofessional to wear sandals while working any job. unless you work on the beach somewhere….
I’m still waiting for someone to also address foreign brokerage firm’s having the ability to broker American freight I’ve been in the industry for 36years and this issue is also in my own opinion of course a rate issue aswell not to mention national security risk needs to be addressed American trucker’s are being squeezed from all angles this is yet another sincerely Groundhog all things trucking 💯🇺🇸🗽🙏🏻🤦♂️
Let’s give Sec. Duffy the appreciation he deserves!! He has done more to try and fix trucking than anyone previously! Just think! He has 3 more years in that position!!!!