The U.S. government is taking steps to close a legal loophole that has allowed logistics companies to employ truck drivers who may not have the necessary credentials to do the job.

The same mandate orders the department to investigate practices surrounding the validation of foreign drivers’ licenses and the issuance of so-called non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

The move was cheered by trucking industry associations as necessary to help establish consistent enforcement of trucking standards in the United States and ensure public safety.

Advocacy group American Truckers United said the executive order is tackling a much larger problem: an unknown number of foreign-born drivers who are legally employed under questionable credentials.

Shannon Everett, co-founder of American Truckers United, said an influx of drivers holding either non-domiciled or foreign-issued licenses is suppressing driver wages and pressuring transportation companies to keep their prices artificially low.

He said these drivers can be dangerously unqualified to drive 18-wheeler trucks at high speeds on America’s roads.

By the end of June, the department is required to issue new enforcement guidance that will ensure drivers who cannot meet English proficiency standards are placed out-of-service.

Standards for proficiency, and how exactly they will be assessed by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, have yet to be determined.

Representatives of the department and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did not respond to questions from The Epoch Times about the enforcement process.

However, in a statement issued the day the order was signed, the White House said professional drivers should “be able to read and understand traffic signs; communicate with traffic safety officers, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station personnel; and provide and receive feedback and directions in English.”

The same statement said that existing federal law mandates English proficiency, but under “Obama Administration guidance,” the requirement has not been enforced.

While the Transportation Department’s action plan has yet to be made public, a multi-country vehicle safety alliance is taking immediate enforcement action, in response to the executive order.

The CVSA is an alliance of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Only critical violations can trigger an out-of-service placement, according to the CVSA. Once designated as out-of-service, a company or driver cannot operate a commercial motor vehicle for a specific period of time or until the condition is remediated.

By 2023, deaths had risen by about 17 percent to more than 5,470, and injuries were up by about 14 percent to more than 153,400.

There have been notable instances in which truck drivers who could not speak proficient English caused fatal wrecks.

In 2019, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a Cuban immigrant, caused a pile-up crash that killed four and injured several others when his brakes malfunctioned on the downslope of a mountainous stretch of Interstate 70 in Colorado.

Mederos, who was traveling at almost twice the speed limit for commercial trucks, sped past multiple ramps designed to stop runaway trucks. He was initially sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in the crash.

In 2024, Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to a year in jail for his role in a crash on U.S. Highway 285 in Colorado that killed one and injured another. Cruz-Mendoza, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was in the country illegally. His criminal record includes drug possession and driving under the influence charges. Cruz-Mendoza was deported in April.

In May, according to a release from the Monongalia County, West Virginia, sheriff’s office, Singh Sukhjinder was served an arrest warrant on negligent homicide crashes for his alleged role in a fatal crash on Interstate 68 on Jan. 19. One person was killed in the crash. Sukhjinder needed an interpreter to speak with police, according to the sheriff’s office.

The executive order also directs the department to review potential irregularities surrounding the issuance of so-called non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses. It mandates stronger verification policies for driver’s licenses issued by both U.S. states and foreign governments.

Premium Picks

As China’s Economy Weakens, Tens of Thousands of Workers Protest Against Unpaid Wages

$67 in France and $798 in US–Why Prescription Drug Prices Are so High in US

North Carolina Communities Rising From the Ruins of Hurricane Helene

However, the problem isn’t as simple as a lack of professional truck drivers, according to industry experts.

In reality, it’s more of a pay shortage than a driver shortage, Everett said. There’s no shortage of people willing to get a commercial driver’s license and drive professionally, but they are turned off by comparatively low pay, tough hours, and long stretches away from home.

In addition, there is “extraordinarily high turnover” in the trucking industry, according to an April study by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) Research Foundation.

“In a truly free market, if an occupation had to routinely replace its entire workforce on a yearly basis, that occupation would either have to drastically improve or flounder completely,” the OOIDA Research Foundation said in its report. “Trucking has avoided disaster by patching the leaks with new bodies.”

The willingness of foreign drivers to accept lower pay and the eagerness of trucking firms to find a way to employ them are keeping wages artificially low for American truckers, industry experts say.

Most of the foreign drivers, Everett said, can get into the country and work legally by taking advantage of either foreign-issued commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) or so-called non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

In the past, under rules established by the North American Free Trade Agreement, a driver from Canada or Mexico could drop off or pick up a load at points within the United States and then return to their country of origin. However, they could not engage in domestic trucking within the United States.

At some point, Everett said, enforcement became lax, with the result that many Canadian and Mexican truckers are now trucking domestic cargo within the United States.

Further, he said, there is a growing issue with foreign drivers obtaining non-domiciled CDLs in order to drive throughout the United States.

A non-domiciled CDL is issued to a driver who is not a resident of the state issuing the license.

“We have a rampant problem of fraudulent [commercial driver’s licenses] coming out of these other countries who don’t have the same standards and checks and balances as the United States,” Everett said.

He said he believes all of these factors are preventing an honest accounting of just how many foreign drivers are trucking with foreign driver’s licenses, non-domiciled CDLs, or fraudulent licenses.