There’s A Simple Solution To Keep Drunk, Illegal Truckers Off Our Roads

[Da Lat]

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There’s A Simple Solution To Keep Drunk, Illegal Truckers Off Our Roads










Chris Spear
President and CEO, American Trucking Associations
October 24, 2025 11:12 AM ET

This week’s deadly truck crash in California caused by an illegal immigrant was a horrific and entirely preventable tragedy. It follows similar crashes in Florida and Georgia, all telling the same story: when our nation fails to uphold the highest safety standards for every driver, motor carrier, and training provider, lives are lost.

Safety is trucking’s North Star. Every professional driver must meet the strictest standards of training, testing, licensing, and fitness for duty before getting behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle. When shortcuts and loopholes persist, tragedy is an inevitable result. (RELATED: Trucker Suspected Of Killing 3 In Horrific DUI Crash Is An Illegal Migrant)

While the investigation continues, we already know the truck driver in this week’s crash in California was a foreign national detained and released by the Biden Administration’s Border Patrol when he entered the U.S. illegally in March 2022. Dashcam footage shows he made no attempt to brake before plowing into stopped traffic on Interstate 10, and initial reports indicate that he was intoxicated.

Crashes like this one — and the August tragedy where another illegal immigrant made a reckless U-turn that killed three people on the Florida Turnpike — have become far too common and reveal a broken system. Too many shady training providers fail to meet federally required Entry-Level Driver Training standards. Too many states have failed to properly certify drivers in accordance with federal requirements. And too many unqualified drivers are slipping through the cracks due to this lax oversight and inconsistent state enforcement.


That must change. We applaud the Trump Administration for beginning to strengthen enforcement of federally mandated Entry-Level Driver Training standards and its removal of fraudulent or substandard schools from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry. The system must be airtight. No driver should advance without verified, high-quality, and comprehensive on-the-road instruction. (RELATED: SEC. SEAN P. DUFFY: American Truckers Are Our Priority — Not Foreign Drivers Who Refuse To Learn English)

We also need stronger credentialing and verification at the state level. The Department of Transportation (DOT), under the leadership of Secretary Sean Duffy, is rightly working to ensure rigorous, uniform CDL standards nationwide. Its decision to tighten oversight of non-domiciled commercial licenses in response to recent accidents involving foreign drivers is both welcome and necessary. It should go without saying, but a foundational requirement to operate a commercial vehicle includes the ability to speak and read English as to understand road signs and communicate with law enforcement. This requirement should be tested at the “front door,” before a driver obtains a CDL — not after they are already on the road.

With its recent decision to withhold $40 million in federal highway funds from California due to its failure to comply with English Language Proficiency standards, the Trump Administration is making clear that this requirement is not optional. But safety doesn’t end once a driver earns a CDL. It requires a daily commitment from both carriers and drivers to comply fully with federal standards, including the DOT’s drug testing program and the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Impaired drivers should never be behind the wheel of a truck.

The California crash underscores the urgent need to deploy stronger drug testing tools. Congress mandated hair testing more than a decade ago, yet the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) still hasn’t finalized the guidelines to make that happen. A similarly beneficial tool, oral fluids testing, which can conveniently and reliably detect recent use of drugs, has also remained in limbo at HHS for years.

These delays are unacceptable. Every day we wait puts more lives at risk. The trucking industry moves America’s economy, but that privilege comes with enormous responsibility. Safety and lawfulness must always come first. We must close the loopholes that allow dangerous drivers on our nation’s highways.

Every one of these recent tragedies has been preventable. But prevention requires action from Washington, from states, and from our industry. It’s time to fix this broken system before another innocent life is lost.


Chris Spear is the president and CEO of American Trucking Associations


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From Daily Caller
Link: https://dailycaller.com/2025/10/24/i...cretary-duffy/






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