The US Transportation Department has ordered the closure of more than 550 commercial driving schools that train truck and bus drivers following widespread safety violations uncovered during site inspections. Officials said the schools employed unqualified instructors, inadequately tested students and failed to meet other safety standards.
Unlike a previous effort last autumn that targeted up to 7,500 mostly defunct schools, this latest action focuses on active schools with serious shortcomings discovered during 1,426 inspections. Of these, 448 failed to meet basic safety standards, while 109 removed themselves from the registry when they learned inspectors planned to visit.
The crackdown follows heightened scrutiny after a fatal crash in Florida in August, where a truck driver not authorised to be in the US made an illegal U-turn, killing three people. Other deadly crashes, including one in Indiana earlier this month that killed four, have intensified safety concerns.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: 'American families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel.' The list of schools to be decertified generally includes smaller operations, often run by school districts. Another 97 are under investigation.
Critics note that schools and trucking companies can essentially self-certify when applying to operate, meaning questionable operations may not be caught until later. The industry currently has more drivers than needed due to a 10% drop in shipments since 2022, but many firms still struggle to find well-qualified drivers with clean records.
