By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Safety concerns, two triple-fatals involving 18-wheelers and a closer look at commercial driver’s licenses has led the U.S. Department of Transportation to say, “We are going to go after the CDL mills.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at a news conference said some schools for CDLs throughout the country are saying applicants can operate a tractor-trailer rig when in fact they cannot. Also, he said, many do not check citizenship or proficiency in the English language.

“A lot of these students are coming through these schools,” Duffy said. “They can’t speak the language, and many of them are not proficient in the English language. Many of them don’t have the skills to operate big rigs on the roads, but nonetheless, the schools are certifying that they are qualified.

“They don’t have documentation that they are citizens. So we’re going to go after the CDL mills that are issuing licenses across the country, sending certification into our state DOTs saying that you have a qualified individual to drive a big rig, licensed in your state. Truth is, they are not.”

Duffy promised serious consequences. Along with that, he said companies hiring the drivers from the CDL mills will also be investigated.

In an email to The Center Square, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the move is positive.

“Years of misguided ‘driver shortage’ policies have flooded America’s roadways with poorly trained newcomers operating 80,000-pound trucks and innocent motorists are paying the price,” said Todd Spencer, the trade association’s president. “Trucking is a skilled profession, not cheap labor. We applaud the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring standards in trucking that will not only save lives, but help improve professionalism in our industry.”

Federal law requires proficient enough in the English language to speak with the public in general, respond to inquiries, and comprehend highway traffic signs and signals.

Regarding citizenship, an employment-based visa like H2A, H2B or E2 is required for a noncitizen to get a CDL. The license generally will expire when work authorization expires. Lawful permanent residents with a green card can get a CDL.

“We’re using every tool in our toolbox to make sure states comply,” Duffy said.

Crashes involving 18-wheelers are under greater scrutiny in part because of two triple-fatals, one in Florida and another in California.

Prosecutors say on Aug. 12 that Harjinder Singh was driving an 18-wheeler and tried to U-turn on the Florida Turnpike through a point in the divided highway marked “official use only.” The speed limit at mile marker 171 is 70 mph.

Homeland Security’s link to video from Breaking911, shot from inside the truck, shows the graphic collision that followed. Three people in a minivan were killed when the trailer suddenly was crossing their lanes.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Singh failed the written portion of the CDL 10 times. He had correct responses to two of 12 verbal questions on an English language proficiency assessment and correctly identified only one of four highway traffic signs during an interview with the Motor Carrier Administration after he had been taken into custody.

On Oct. 21 on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, Calif., 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh of India was driving an 18-wheeler that never braked before instigating a rear-end collision with eight vehicles, said the California Highway Patrol. In addition to three dead, four others were hospitalized.

Homeland Security filed an arrest detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, saying he entered the country through the southern border in 2022 and was released into the United States by the Biden administration.

Harjinder Singh is believed to have come to America in 2018 and gained his CDL despite no documentation for being in the country.

Neither man named Singh is related, according to published reports.