WRGB Studios-Schenectady, NY — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy says his agency, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has removed more than 300 CDL training schools throughout the country as a part of a CDL “fraud crackdown”.

“USDOT has spent the last year-and-a-half strengthening the rules of the road and removing dangerous foreign drivers from our trucking industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy in a statement. “From states failing to follow the law to shady training schools and illicit companies, together we will tackle every link in the chain.”

Duffy says the DOT is launching a nationwide audit of States’ oversight of third-party CDL skills testers.

The news being met with applause by the Trucking Association of New York State.

“We support it,” Kendra Hems, President of the Trucking Association of New York State, says. “There’s been, in the industry, unfortunately, a history of what we would frequently call CDL mills, where they often will put profit over safety. They’re not making sure that drivers are truly qualified coming out of driving schools for a whole host of reasons, whether it’s being able to actually safely operate that vehicle, or one of the issues that we know was brought up is also being able to communicate safely, both with enforcement roadside or understanding road signs. So, in my opinion, it’s long overdue. We need to be cracking down on these schools and ensuring that our drivers out on the road are qualified and can operate these vehicles safely.”

You can watch the full conversation with Hems here:

Right now, TANY says they haven’t received notice if any New York CDL schools have been targeted. The NYS DMV Spokesperson sending this statement:

“The Department of Motor Vehicles is committed to the safety of New York’s roads. We follow all applicable federal laws in providing driver licenses, whether commercial or non-commercial, issue licenses only to eligible applicants, and follow all guidelines that govern driver data.

We cannot provide information about New York-based CDL training programs that may have been impacted by today’s announcement as Secretary Duffy and FMCSA have declined to provide any information on the schools they allege are creating fraud in the trucking industry.”

The move comes a week after Sec. Duffy spoke to CBS6’s Tom Eschen about the issue, in that case, regarding a lawsuit brought upon by dozens of States looking to stop the federal government from accessing

“What we’ve seen throughout America is that we have individuals driving an 18-wheeler, 80,000-pound vehicle that are here illegally, or their licenses were improperly issued, or they went to a sham school, and they don’t have the skill set necessary to drive a big rig like that,” Sec. Duffy told CBS6 on August 24th. “And so I’ve asked for the driver records from our states, and I want to look at that because if I have people that I know shouldn’t have a license, I want to be able to flag that for the states to make sure they revoke those licenses. Well, 22 states, including New York, said, “Well, we’re not going to give you that data.’ Well, what does that tell you? They don’t want to give me the data because they probably know that they’ve given commercial driver’s licenses to illegals. Listen, there’s great Americans who want those jobs, and if you can, if you’re as an American citizen, if you go get a CDL, a commercial driver’s license to be a trucker. We do a background check on you. I know your driving record. I know your criminal history. I know everything about you before I give you a license to drive a big rig. The people who’ve come into the country unlawfully here illegally, I know nothing about them. I don’t know what their driving record is. I don’t know what their criminal history is. Their record starts when they came across the border. I think we owe more to the to the American people in regard to safety to make sure we have the best trained men and women driving trucks on American roads.”