The five-day, on-site investigations yielded hundreds of notices of proposed removals, alleging the schools failed to meet the agency’s basic safety standards.
The Department of Transportation announced on Feb. 18 the removal of certifications for more than 550 U.S. commercial driving schools that train truckers and bus drivers.
The schools were employing unqualified instructors, using fraudulent addresses, and failing to properly train applicants for transporting hazardous materials, investigators found.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration deployed more than 300 investigators across all 50 states to conduct more than 1,400 safety operations.
After the investigation revealed hundreds of safety violations, the agency served notices to more than 550 schools informing them of their proposed removal from the national training provider registry, including one school that had previously provided training for operating school buses.
The announcement is the latest development in the Trump administration’s crackdown on the commercial driving training provider industry, following the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s nationwide audit last year.
The Transportation Department also imposed stricter English-language skills requirements for commercial truckers, resulting in more than 9,500 being removed from service for failing proficiency checks.
“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes, and nobody asks any questions. The buck stops with me,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
“My team is cracking down on every link in the trucking chain that has allowed this lawlessness to impact the safety of America’s roads.”
The five-day, on-site investigations yielded 448 notices of proposed removals alleging the schools failed to meet the agency’s basic safety standards.
Another 109 training providers voluntarily removed their status from the national training provider registry after “hearing investigators were on the way,” the Transportation Department said.
The alleged violations included schools employing unqualified instructors who lacked the proper licenses and permits for the vehicles they were teaching students to drive, including school buses.
Some schools were also accused of using vehicles that did not match the type of training being offered, conducting incomplete testing on basic requirements for students, and failing to meet state-specific safety requirements.
By Jacob Burg
