WASHINGTON – The federal government has announced a new crackdown on training schools.
In a release on Thursday, the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) announced a joint operation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand USDOT’s “mission to crack down on fraudulent and illegal practices in commercial driver’s license (CDL) schools.”
The release stated that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including using improper driver certifications, falsifying training records, and failing to properly train drivers applying for CDLs, among other violations. USDOT will engage DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in its investigations of these schools.
“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We’ve knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry. DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America’s roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”
The list was not included in the release.
“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole of government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”
The push follows previous actions including in December 2025, USDOT’s removal of CDL training providers from the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry for failing to equip trainees with “the Trump Administration’s standards of readiness.” DOT said nearly 10,000 schools have been removed.
In February 2026, USDOT announced that more than 550 sham CDL training schools found in violation of the FMCSA’s standards of safety received notices of proposed removal from FMCSA’s national training provider registry.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
