110 Trucking Schools Closed | Federal Safety Mandates Explained

Federal Crackdown on Trucking Schools

The Trump administration has ordered the immediate shutdown of 110 commercial trucking schools across the country. Federal officials cite widespread failure to meet English language proficiency standards as the primary driver for this emergency action. Data released by the Department of Transportation links these specific institutions to more than 5,000 licensed drivers who failed mandatory language tests.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the closures during a press conference in Detroit on Monday. He specifically named California as a major source of concern regarding unlawful license issuance. Secretary Duffy noted that these licenses are often issued in California, New York, or Illinois, but the safety risks manifest on highways throughout the Midwest. Investigators have identified these schools through a nationwide audit of third-party testers responsible for verifying driver skills.

Concerns Over Safety and Fraud

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin characterized the situation as a serious breach of industry standards. During the announcement, officials presented a personal account from Marcus Coleman. His 7-year-old daughter, Dalilah, suffered critical injuries in a 2024 crash in the Mojave Desert involving a truck driver who had recently entered the country. Federal authorities confirmed that drivers associated with the shuttered schools are linked to 239 fatal accidents involving commercial motor vehicles.

Investigators are expanding their scope beyond the initial 110 closures. They have served notices to an additional 160 schools that reported issues such as missing documentation, inadequate training space, and the use of unlicensed instructors. In one instance documented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a school operated out of the back of an open semi-trailer. The owner claimed their primary instructor resided outside the country, making real-time oversight impossible.

Impact on the Industry and Legal Friction

This move represents a continuation of the administration's policy to tighten regulations on immigrant commercial drivers. Since June 2025, the government has revoked over 28,000 commercial licenses due to language proficiency violations. These actions form part of a broader push to verify the immigration status of every applicant through a centralized federal portal. The administration has even moved to limit commercial licenses specifically to certain visa categories.

Critics of the policy argue that the administration provides insufficient data to justify the targeted enforcement against foreign-born drivers. Immigrant advocacy groups, including the Asian Law Caucus and the Sikh Coalition, contend that these mandates worsen current driver shortages. They maintain that the regulatory crackdown relies on generalizations rather than individual safety records. Meanwhile, the Border Patrol reported the arrest of 95 individuals on Monday who held commercial licenses while lacking legal status in the country. California authorities remain caught in the middle of these federal mandates as legal battles regarding the DMV’s license cancellation processes continue to unfold in local courts.