Federal Investigators Shut Down More Than 550 Truck Driving Schools in Nationwide Safety Crackdown

The US Department of Transportation has moved to close more than 550 commercial driver's licence training schools across the country after a sweeping five-day federal investigation uncovered widespread safety violations and fraudulent practices.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the enforcement action on 18th February, revealing that more than 300 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigators had been dispatched across all 50 states to conduct over 1,400 on-site inspections of CDL training providers. The operation resulted in 448 schools receiving notices of proposed removal from the national Training Provider Registry, while a further 109 providers voluntarily shut down upon learning that inspectors were on their way. An additional 97 schools remain under active investigation.

Investigators uncovered a range of serious failings at the targeted institutions. Common violations included instructors who did not hold the correct licences for the vehicles they were teaching students to drive, schools using vehicles that did not match the training being offered, incomplete student assessments, and programmes that by their own admission failed to meet state-level requirements.

The crackdown forms part of a broader federal effort to tackle so-called "CDL mills" — training operations accused of fast-tracking students through commercial driver programmes with minimal hands-on experience. In recent months, nearly 3,000 training providers had already been removed from the registry, with a further 4,000 placed on notice for potential non-compliance.

The action received strong backing from across the industry. The American Trucking Associations praised the administration for strengthening the integrity of the commercial driver training system, while the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the closures represented a significant step towards protecting public safety and defending the professionalism of America's truck drivers.