California to revoke 17,000 immigrant commercial driver licenses
California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants after discovering that the expiration dates extended beyond the drivers’ authorized stay in the US.
unbranded – Newsworthy
As President Donald Trump’s administration continues to put transportation rules and regulations at the forefront of his second term, a new initiative which the administration believes will make the truck and bus driving industry safer is underway — and Kentucky is already seeing the impact.
Sean Duffy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, announced Dec. 1 that the agency was in the process of removing some 3,000 commercial driver’s license training providers nationwide from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s registry (FMCSA), meaning they are no longer authorized to offer federally required bus or truck driver training. Additionally, Duffy said another 4,500 training providers nationwide were “placed on notice” and could also face removal within 30 days if they do not take corrective action.
In Kentucky, more than 130 CDL training providers were either removed or are pending removal from the federal registry of authorized training providers for the federally required CDL training.
“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,” Duffy said in a statement. “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.”
What is a CDL? What is a CDL used for?
A CDL is a type of license necessary to drive a commercial vehicle, including semitrucks, school buses, public or private buses, hazardous waste vehicles and more. Drivers are required to go through extensive training since these vehicles require a higher level of “knowledge, experience, skills, and physical abilities” than non-commercial vehicles require, according to FMCSA.
FMCSA is the entity responsible for safety and regulatory standards as it relates to CDLs; however, FMCSA does not issue CDLs, state governments do.
The Transportation Department determined a training provider’s removal or proposed removal based on factors it says make the provider noncompliant, including by “Falsifying or manipulating training data, neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications, and/or failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.”
“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.
New effort comes after deadly crash
The push to tighten rules on CDL drivers follows a crash in August by a semitruck driver in Florida who was determined to be unauthorized to be in the U.S. The crash, which occurred after the semitruck driver made an illegal U-turn, killed three people. The driver is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter. The case is still proceeding through the court system in Florida.
In September, Duffy and the department announced an “emergency action” that would strongly restrict who is eligible for a CDL, with an emphasis on barring foreign drivers and “non-citizens.” However, in November, this action was paused by a federal appeals court as the court determined the department did not take proper steps for enforcement.
The Dec. 1 announcement to remove and propose to remove a combined more than 7,000 CDL training providers across the U.S. is the latest step in the federal government’s clampdown.
Kentucky CDL trainers removed, pending removal
A Dec. 4 Courier Journal analysis of the more than 7,000 training providers named by the federal government found that 53 providers in Kentucky have been removed from the federal registry as authorized providers. This represents roughly 2% of the removed providers nationally. Most were an involuntary removal and include providers such as Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and Frankfort Independent Schools in Frankfort, among dozens of others.
Metropolitan Sewer District in Louisville appeared to be on the removal list, but according to a spokesperson the removal was of a duplicate account with the federal registry. That account has since been removed.
A spokesperson for the Transportation Department said depending on the reason for removal, a training provider may be eligible to be added back to the list of authorized providers by reapplying as a new provider and meeting the “Trump Administration’s standards of readiness.”
Additionally, The Courier Journal found that 79 providers across Kentucky are proposed to be removed if they do not restore compliance within 30 days of when they were issued a citation from the federal government. Kentucky accounts for almost 2% of the providers pending removal nationwide. The list of providers pending removal includes many cities in Kentucky such as Hopkinsville, Lebanon and Paducah as well as several school districts in the state including Fayette County Public Schools, Paris City Schools and some schools within the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
As training providers are facing removal or have already been removed, it remains unclear how this may impact the yearslong nationwide shortage of bus drivers and truck drivers — a shortage under which foreign-born people have helped to fill the widening labor gap.
In Kentucky, UPS, the shipping and logistics giant with a massive trucking operation, is one of the state’s largest employers. None of the UPS CDL training centers in the commonwealth appear on the list of removed or proposed removal.
“UPS drivers are among the safest on the road. It’s not unusual for them to drive accident-free for 25 years or more. We do nearly all our CDL training internally, so there is no impact to our hiring,” UPS spokesperson Jim Mayer said in an emailed statement.
The Courier Journal reached out to several impacted providers, but most did not respond to the requests for comment. Others said they were still gathering information on the situation.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information from the Transportation Department on how driving schools removed from the national registry may regain a spot on the list. It was also updated to include new information about the Metropolitan Sewer District’s active status as a CDL provider.
Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.
