A deadly crash that killed five people in Austin this past March wasn’t an isolated incident. It was part of a pattern that prompted federal officials to crack down on commercial truck licensing, particularly focusing on non-U.S. citizen drivers.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s sweeping new regulations come after investigators discovered multiple states, including Texas, were improperly issuing Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to potentially unqualified drivers—a practice that puts every motorist at risk.
“What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers – often times illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses.”…