A growing problem in pockets across the country is finally emerging from the shadows and being exposed to the light. A small cohort of corrupt fly-by-night driving schools have been handing strangers a commercial license the way a gas station hands out receipts. No real instruction. No real test. Just a signature and a fee.

The federal government has finally had enough. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation and the Dept. of Homeland Security announced last week a joint investigation into roughly 75 entry-level commercial driver’s license training schools suspected of fraud.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry.” – Sean Duffy

The crackdown mirrors recommendations laid out by the trucking industry itself. The Trucking Association Executives Council’s Trucking Resurgence Plan, truckingresurgence.com, calls for stricter oversight of CDL training providers, including faster removal of noncompliant schools from the Training Provider Registry and a two-year lookback linking training providers to their drivers’ subsequent performance.

The Alabama Trucking Association is among more than 40 state and national trucking associations backing the plan and pushed for stricter oversight by state agencies and law enforcement.

Alabama is Ahead of the Curb Once Again

Nobody has named the 75 schools yet, and there’s no public sign that an Alabama provider is among them. But make no mistake, this investigation didn’t come out of nowhere.

It comes four months after Alabama did its own housecleaning. In March, Governor Kay Ivey signed the Highway Safety Bill aimed at improving safety on Alabama’s highways by ensuring commercial motor vehicle operators meet federal work authorization and communication standards.

At the time of Gov. Ivey’s signing, Alabama Trucking President and CEO Mark Colson said, “Alabama’s law enforcement agency is a national leader in highway safety, and SB242 will give them additional tools to keep illegal operators off the road.”

Why Federal Investigators are Circling CDL Schools

According to DOT’s announcement, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) identified the schools for alleged violations including falsified training records, improper driver certifications and failure to properly train CDL applicants. DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations division will assist FMCSA in the probes.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in the announcement, citing more than 24,000 drivers placed out of service for failing English-proficiency requirements, more than 28,000 improperly issued licenses canceled by states, and more than 9,500 training providers removed from FMCSA’s national registry.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the effort is meant to close gaps that have allowed unqualified drivers onto the road. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country,” Mullin said in DHS’s release.

The action follows two earlier registry actions: the December 2025 removal of nearly 10,000 training providers for failing to meet federal training standards, and a February 2026 notice proposing removal of more than 550 additional schools found in violation of FMCSA safety standards.

What Good CDL Training Actually Looks Like

Real training programs, the kind that put in the hours and teach drivers to handle 80,000 pounds safely, have nothing to fear from this investigation. If anything, they welcome it. Every diploma-mill operation that gets shut down is one less unqualified driver crowding out the professionals who did it right.

Alabama Trucking has said for years that the industry’s credibility rests on the people we put in the seat. You can read more about the association’s ongoing safety advocacy here.

Alabama got ahead of this fight before it was a federal headline. That’s not an accident, and it’s exactly the kind of proactive problem-solving the Alabama Trucking Association has and intends to keep pushing for, on our highways and in Washington alike.