Gov. Kay Ivey has endorsed the Trump administration’s sweeping federal crackdown on fraud, illegal operations and other abuses in commercial trucking — an effort that reflects priorities Alabama trucking leaders have pressed at both the state and national levels.

In a Sept. 2 news release, Ivey applauded the administration’s announcement that more than 100 commercial driver’s license mills had been shuttered for illegally issuing CDLs to students who failed to meet federal requirements.

At a news conference Monday in Washington, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice announced what officials described as their most aggressive interagency trucking enforcement effort to date. The coordinated national initiative targets fraudulent commercial driver training and testing practices, illegal commercial operators and criminal activity within the trucking industry.

Alabama trucking leaders had already been pushing for stronger enforcement against illegal operators. In December 2025, Alabama Trucking Association leaders, working with other state trucking associations, developed an initiative to target trucking operations that operate outside the law, cut corners and put their employees and the public at risk to increase profits and game the system.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said 110 CDL mills across the country were padlocked this week, disrupting classes without refunds or an appeals process. The “bad actor” schools were discovered through increased enforcement of the English-language-proficiency rule, demonstrating how measures implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are working together to create safer highways and root out the fraud that trucking companies and drivers have complained about for years.

Ivey also emphasized that Alabama has been at the forefront of these efforts through the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit, its partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and strong standards governing the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses. Through aggressive state enforcement, strong licensing standards and a close partnership with federal immigration authorities, Alabama is already delivering results and helping set the national standard for keeping illegal and unqualified commercial drivers off the road.

“President Trump and Secretary Duffy are taking decisive action to restore law, order and accountability to America’s trucking industry, and we are proud to help lead that effort,” Ivey said.

“Here in Alabama, we have already made it clear that those who are in our country illegally, cannot speak English, or are otherwise unqualified have no business operating an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle. Through ALEA’s partnership with ICE and the dedicated work of our state troopers, Alabama is helping keep dangerous drivers off our roads and protect law-abiding citizens.”

Since the partnership began in October 2025, ALEA’s Motor Carrier Safety Unit has assisted ICE in detaining 561 individuals for immigration violations encountered during commercial motor vehicle enforcement activities.

Meanwhile, under the direction of the Governor’s Office, ALEA has maintained a strong focus on English-language-proficiency requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers. Since Jan. 1, 2025, Motor Carrier Safety Unit troopers have issued 1,022 English-language-proficiency violations to commercial drivers.

In March, Ivey signed the Highway Safety and Fairness Act, which was largely drawn from the trucking industry’s Fight for Fairness and Safety initiative. The law requires foreign CDL holders operating in Alabama to possess valid U.S. work authorization, requires all CDL holders to demonstrate English-language proficiency, and makes presenting a fraudulent foreign CDL during an enforcement encounter a criminal offense. The law takes effect Oct. 1, 2026.

Alabama Trucking Association President and CEO Mark Colson credited Ivey and ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor with establishing Alabama as a national model for protecting responsible trucking businesses and professional drivers while holding illegal operators and other bad actors accountable.

“Alabama’s trucking industry is built on the hard work of family-owned businesses, independent owner-operators and professional drivers who play by the rules. Bad actors who exploit loopholes in our regulatory systems are putting everyone at risk, and this is unacceptable,” Colson said.

“We are encouraged by the progress being made at the federal level by Secretary Sean Duffy and Administrator Derek Barrs, and proud of Alabama’s strong and timely response to these issues. Governor Kay Ivey and ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor have positioned Alabama as a national leader in combating rogue operations and bad actors, creating safer highways for our citizens and a fairer and more equitable trucking industry in Alabama.”

ALEA strategically deploys enforcement resources to high-crash corridors across the state, including areas where English-language proficiency and other commercial vehicle violations are prevalent. The agency has observed reductions in commercial motor vehicle-related crashes in specific high-crash corridors where these enforcement efforts have been concentrated.

Those efforts come as Alabama continues to make progress in reducing fatal crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. In 2025, Alabama recorded 106 fatalities involving commercial motor vehicles, the lowest annual total since 2021. So far in 2026, the state has experienced a 24% reduction in commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities compared with the same period last year.

“Commercial motor vehicle safety is about much more than conducting an inspection or issuing a citation. It is about making certain the individuals operating these large vehicles are qualified, properly licensed and capable of doing so safely,” Taylor said. “Under Governor Ivey’s leadership, ALEA has remained proactive in addressing these issues through targeted enforcement, federal partnerships and the work of our Motor Carrier Safety Unit. The progress we are seeing in CMV-related fatalities demonstrates why these efforts remain so important.”

Alabama also maintains stringent standards for issuing commercial driver’s licenses.

“Alabama did not wait for this issue to resolve itself,” Ivey said. “We took action, we strengthened the law and took illegal operators off our highways. My message is clear: If you are here illegally, operating unlawfully or putting American lives at risk, you will be held accountable.”

Alabama does not issue nondomiciled CDLs and issues CDLs only to lawful permanent residents.