Trump administration shuts down 110 trucking schools over English proficiency violations

The Trump administration has shut down 110 commercial trucking schools and is moving to close 160 more in a sweeping multi-agency crackdown on English proficiency and training violations. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the immediate revocations, which affect schools linked to over 5,000 drivers who failed language tests. Federal officials singled out California as the worst offender for unlawfully issuing licenses, while coordinating nationwide audits and sweeps of training facilities.

Claims

• ▪The U.S. Border Patrol arrested 95 truck drivers who were in the country illegally but possessed state-issued commercial driver's licenses, including 76 with California licenses.
• ▪The federal government withheld $160 million in transportation funding from California after the state delayed revoking approximately 13,000 commercial driver's licenses that remained valid past work permit expirations.
• ▪The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a notice in the Federal Register on August 10, 2026, to codify mandatory English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers.
• ▪Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the immediate revocation of the accreditation of 110 commercial trucking schools for certifying drivers who failed to demonstrate English proficiency.
• ▪The Department of Transportation proposed to shut down an additional 160 commercial driving schools for operating with unlicensed instructors, missing documentation, or inadequate training facilities.
• ▪The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration removed the 110 commercial trucking schools from its Training Provider Registry, effectively forcing them to cease all operations.
• ▪The 110 commercial trucking schools targeted for immediate closure collectively trained more than 5,000 drivers who subsequently failed English-language proficiency tests.
• ▪President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April 2025 requiring commercial truck drivers who fail to meet English proficiency standards to be placed immediately out of service.
• ▪Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Derek Barrs accused Platinum Plus Driving School in Fresno of graduating 36 drivers who lacked English proficiency, including one linked to a fatal crash in Oklahoma.
• ▪The Department of Transportation announced a nationwide audit of third-party commercial driver's license skills testers and states' oversight of those testers.
• ▪Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigators found that 40 percent of 400 driver training schools investigated did not meet federal regulatory requirements.
• ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy singled out California as the biggest source of unlawfully issued commercial driver's licenses.
• ▪The Department of Homeland Security conducted a synchronized single-day sweep targeting more than 200 commercial driver's license training schools across 23 states.
• ▪The Department of Transportation claims that since June 2025, more than 28,000 truck drivers have been placed out of service for failing to demonstrate English-language proficiency.

9 sources