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Members of the National Guard patrol in Washington on Aug. 25, 2025. President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to the city as part of an effort to combat violent crime. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) stated on Monday that it will stop the use of non-domiciled commercial driver’s license holders in its contracted trucking fleet unless the drivers are thoroughly vetted by the Postal Inspection Service.
“The safety of our employees, our customers, and the American public is of the utmost concern to the Postal Service,” Amber McReynolds, chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors, said in a statement. “In order to maintain the highest possible safety standards, we have decided to phase out any use of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License operators who have not been thoroughly vetted by the Postal Inspection Service.”
The policy change aligns with recent Department of Transportation (DOT) initiatives to bolster highway safety.
The Postal Service will slowly phase out non-domiciled CDL drivers, who are foreign nationals or residents of states that are temporarily prohibited from issuing CDLs, after the DOT’s interim final rule, “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL).”
“USPS just completed an extremely safe and efficient peak season delivering the nation’s holiday mail and packages,” Postmaster General and CEO of the Postal Service David Steiner said in a statement. “We believe this additional requirement will strengthen the safety, efficiency and reliability of our services into the future.”
The Postal Service moves 55,000 loads daily, covering nearly 2 billion miles each year to deliver mail to more than 170 million addresses six or seven days a week, and depends heavily on trucks.
The agency stated that it already monitors industry and government data on contractors in order to ensure the safety of its employed and contracted drivers. This includes working with providers to ensure compliance.
The DOT has taken actions to reform CDL practices. In December, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said nearly 3,000 CDL training providers were taken off the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry in a move targeting illegal testing centers. An additional 4,500 providers received notices for suspected noncompliance.
“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy said in a statement last month. He said that under the previous administration, “bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.”
“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.”
The registry outlines authorized centers for entry-level driver training and establishes minimum federal requirements. These steps aim to curb fraudulent practices that could compromise road safety, according to the department.
Kimberly Hayek is a reporter for The Epoch Times. She covers California news and has worked as an editor and on scene at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2018 migrant caravan crisis.
