The U.S. Transportation Department has announced a major crackdown on commercial driving schools, citing safety failures and unqualified instructors. Over 550 schools, which train truckers and bus drivers, are being shut down, marking a significant step towards enhancing safety in the trucking industry. This move comes after a series of fatal crashes, including one in Florida where a truck driver, who was unauthorized to be in the U.S., caused a crash that killed three people. The department has been aggressively targeting states that issued commercial driver's licenses to immigrants who didn't qualify, and has identified 448 schools that failed to meet basic safety standards. These include employing unqualified instructors, failing to test students' skills, and using incorrect equipment. Additionally, 109 schools removed themselves from the registry when inspectors planned to visit. The Transportation Department is also focusing on ensuring English proficiency standards for truck drivers, with California being the only state to lose funding so far. This initiative is part of a broader effort to improve safety and accountability in the trucking industry, addressing the issue of self-certification by schools and trucking companies, and the potential for questionable operations to go undetected until audits.
