WASHINGTON (TNND) — Nearly 44% of all 16,000 trucking schools in the U.S. could be forced to close.
The potential for shutdown comes after a review by the federal Transportation Department found the schools may not be complying with government requirements.
About 3,000 schools are under threat by the Transportation Department if they do not comply with training requirements within the next 30 days. Another 4,500 schools are being threatened to face similar action.
The Transportation Department listed the following reasons for potential closure:
Falsifying or manipulating training dataNeglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualificationsFailing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.
Schools are required to notify the students. If accreditation is lost, students are likely to ditch those schools.
The Transportation Department’s crackdown on trucking schools and companies is a part of its campaign to ensure that truck drivers are qualified to hold a commercial driver’s license.
Earlier this month, Harjinder Singh appeared in court for a charge in a crash that killed three people on a Florida Turnpike. Singh attempted an illegal U-turn across lanes of the Turnpike.
We are reigning in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Immigrant drivers, however, said they are being unfairly targeted. The North American Punjabi Truckers Association estimates that the Sikh workforce makes up about 40% of truck driving on the West Coast and about 20% nationwide.
“Sikh and immigrant truckers with spotless records are being treated like suspects while they keep America’s freight moving,” the United Sikhs group said. “When federal agencies frame lawful, licensed drivers as risks, it doesn’t improve safety — it fuels xenophobia, harassment, and even violence on the road. Any policy built on fear instead of facts endangers families, civil rights, and the national supply chain.”
In a separate investigation, the Department of Homeland Security is also looking into California trucking firms owned by immigrants to verify the status of their drivers and whether they are qualified to hold a commercial driver’s license.
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Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.