Punjabi truck drivers in US face federal scrutiny after driving schools fail to comply govt standards
PTC News Desk: Almost 44% of the 16,000 truck-driving schools listed nationwide in the US may have to shut down if they lose their students, after a federal Transportation Department review found that many may not be meeting required standards. On Monday, the department said it plans to cancel the certification of nearly 3,000 schools unless they fix the issues within 30 days.
These schools must inform their students that their certification is at risk. Another 4,500 schools have been warned that they could face the same action. If a school loses certification, it won’t be allowed to give students the training certificates needed to apply for a commercial driver’s license, so students are expected to stop enrolling. It’s unclear how many of these schools are actively teaching right now.
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security is checking trucking companies in California owned by immigrants to verify the legal status and qualifications of their drivers. This crackdown is part of a larger effort to ensure that commercial truck drivers are properly trained and legally eligible to drive.
The action started after a truck driver who Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said was not legally in the US made an illegal U-turn in Florida, causing a crash that killed three people.
Duffy said the government is trying to stop “dangerous practices that let poorly trained drivers operate big trucks and school buses.”
He has also threatened to cut federal funding to states including California, Pennsylvania, and most recently Minnesota, unless they fix problems with their commercial driver licensing process. On Monday, he warned that Minnesota could lose $30.4 million if it doesn’t correct issues and cancel licenses that were wrongly issued—such as licenses given without checking immigration status.
So far, all states he has targeted are run by Democrats, although he said audits are happening in states like Texas and South Dakota as well.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s spokesperson, Claire Lancaster, responded that the state is already working to comply with federal rules and takes road safety seriously.
Concerns about trucking schools
It is not yet known how shutting down these schools might affect the national truck driver shortage. However, Andrew Poliakoff, head of the biggest trucking school association, said many of the schools facing decertification were “CDL mills” that claimed they could train drivers in only a few days.
- With inputs from agencies
