A complex web of oversight failures and tragic accidents has spotlighted concerns over commercial driver licensing, particularly for non-domiciled drivers. <\/p>\n
CALIFORNIA, USA \u2014 Semi-truck crashes and questions about commercial driver oversight have drawn increased attention from federal and California officials, who have revoked thousands of commercial driver’s licenses<\/a> and tightened review procedures. Supporters say the actions improve safety, while critics argue longstanding enforcement gaps allowed problems to persist.\u00a0<\/p>\n An ABC10 investigation examines a deadly October 2025 crash on Interstate 10 in Ontario and the little-known licensing system now facing scrutiny from industry experts and federal regulators.<\/p>\n On Interstate 10 in Southern California, a semi-truck failed to stop, triggering an eight-vehicle chain-reaction crash that killed three people and injured four others.<\/p>\n Authorities say the driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh of Yuba City, now faces multiple counts of vehicular manslaughter. The criminal case remains pending, and no conviction has been obtained.<\/p>\n According to the Department of Homeland Security, Singh is from India and entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was later released pending immigration proceedings. Records show he held a valid commercial driver’s license at the time of the crash. Investigators are examining how he obtained the license and whether any rules were violated.<\/p>\n His immigration status has become relevant to investigators because federal regulations governing commercial driver eligibility differ depending on a driver’s legal authorization to work in the United States.<\/p>\n The crash is one of several incidents that have intensified questions about commercial driver training, testing and oversight.<\/p>\n The debate has increasingly focused on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, or non-domiciled CDLs, which allow foreign nationals with federal work authorization, but no permanent U.S. residency, to legally operate commercial trucks in the United States.<\/p>\n While several high-profile crashes have brought attention to the program, publicly available data cited in federal court filings does not show non-domiciled CDL holders account for a large share of fatal truck crashes. According to filings citing Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data, non-domiciled CDL holders make up about 5% of CDL holders nationwide but account for about 0.2% of fatal truck crashes.<\/p>\n FMCSA has cited 17 fatal crashes in 2025 involving non-domiciled CDL holders that killed 30 people as part of its justification for tightening federal rules. Those crashes represent a small fraction of the thousands of fatal large-truck crashes recorded nationwide each year.<\/p>\n Dale Prax, a strategic fraud adviser at Truckstop.com and founder of FreightValidate.com, said responsibility should not rest solely with drivers.<\/p>\n “We always see the driver on the driver’s face on the TV camera that maybe killed a family of five or lost his CDL license. My contention is somebody hired this guy. Some company put this guy on the road knowing that he was not qualified to drive a motor vehicle,” Prax said.<\/p>\n Prax argues that when questions arise about a driver’s qualifications, investigators should also examine the companies that hired and supervised those drivers. He added that companies should also face scrutiny when crashes occur.<\/p>\n “I think that we need to investigate those companies and do a complete audit, and I also believe that if it resulted in a fatality on the highway, that company should be shut down with an immediate imminent danger, imminent hazard, out of service order until we get it all figured out to make sure they are safe enough to be putting drivers on the highways,” he said.<\/p>\n California officials announced late last year that roughly 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses would be revoked after the DMV determined some licenses had expiration dates that did not match drivers’ legal presence documents.<\/p>\n State officials now say that number has narrowed.<\/p>\n The DMV canceled more than 12,000 commercial licenses in March after determining documents on file no longer aligned with drivers’ legal authorization status.<\/p>\n Officials say thousands of other drivers were removed from the review after becoming U.S. citizens or permanent residents, switching to non-commercial licenses, or allowing their CDLs to expire.<\/p>\n The review remains ongoing. The DMV says another 1,900 drivers received cancellation notices that took effect May 19.<\/p>\n California officials also say the state is currently unable to issue non-domiciled commercial licenses<\/a> because of a federal FMCSA directive and that there is no timeline for when that could change.<\/p>\n For drivers like Amarjit Singh, the revocation process came as a shock.<\/p>\n “It was really shocking for me. I was like shocked and depressed for 10 days,” Singh said.<\/p>\n Singh said he came to the United States in 2012 and spent years building a career before earning his CDL.<\/p>\n “Went to the DMV for a written test, so I passed that in English, not another language, same as other people do that.” he said.<\/p>\n After training with experienced drivers, he eventually purchased his own truck.<\/p>\n “… I bought a used truck, you know, it’s almost like $160,000 and put around a $30,000 down payment, and the rest of took a loan from the bank and making payments,” Singh said.<\/p>\n Now, he says, his future is uncertain.<\/p>\n