DOT Shuts Down 110 Trucking Schools Over Language Rules

Semi trucks parked at a rest area under cloudy sky — Photo: gmlykin / Shutterstock

The Trump administration shut down 110 truck-driving schools overnight, saying the schools trained drivers who could not read American road signs or speak English well enough to drive safely.

Story Snapshot

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered 110 commercial truck-driving schools closed, tying them to roughly 5,000 English-proficiency violations.
Federal rules now require drivers who fail English tests to be pulled off the road immediately, a policy reinstated in June 2025.
The Department of Transportation says it has removed over 28,000 drivers and canceled more than 30,000 improperly issued licenses since the crackdown began.
California lost more than $40 million in federal funding after regulators said the state ignored the English rules.
Trucking schools and at least one industry group have pushed back, saying the government is lumping fraud, training gaps, and paperwork problems into one number.

Nationwide Shutdown Targets Training Schools

The Department of Transportation ordered 110 commercial truck-driving schools closed immediately, accusing them of ignoring long-standing federal rules that require drivers to understand and speak English. Secretary Duffy said the schools were responsible for about 5,000 of the violations tied to English proficiency. Officials called the closures part of an emergency order, not a routine review, signaling the schools had certified drivers who should never have been on the road.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules require commercial drivers to read and speak English well enough to understand road signs, respond to officers, and fill out reports. Under guidance signed by Duffy, any driver who fails that test is placed “out-of-service” on the spot. That rule took effect again on June 25, 2025, after years of looser enforcement under a previous administration.

Crackdown Reaches Far Beyond One Order

The 110 school closures are the latest step in a much bigger campaign. The Department of Transportation says it has pulled over 28,000 drivers off the road for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel more than 30,000 improperly issued licenses, and purged over 8,000 training schools from its federal registry over the past year and a half. Duffy has framed the effort as closing loopholes that let unqualified drivers behind the wheel of big rigs.

States face consequences too. Federal regulators withheld more than $40 million from California after an investigation found the state failed to follow the English-language rules. Separately, the department announced plans to require that all commercial driver’s license tests be given only in English, ending the option for tests in other languages.

Data Links Language Rule to Road Safety

Government-linked research gives the crackdown a factual backbone. A study of roadside inspections found stops involving an English-proficiency violation carried two and a half times more total violations than stops without one, and nearly three times the rate of the most serious driving violations. Officials point to that link as justification for treating English proficiency as a safety issue, not just a paperwork requirement.

Not everyone agrees the numbers tell a clean story. A trucking-industry group representing Indian-origin drivers, among the most affected by the rule, warned that English proficiency judgments can vary from officer to officer, calling the standard subjective. In Texas, commercial driver’s license schools publicly disputed accusations from state Attorney General Ken Paxton that they certified unqualified, non-English-speaking drivers.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the shutdown of several commercial driver’s license (CDL) training schools following investigations into fraudulent certification practices.

Duffy stated that certain schools operated without standard facilities, in one case… pic.twitter.com/hbs58Gnb0L

— Pro Trucking Assoc Group (@ptagtrucking) August 31, 2026

What Comes Next for Drivers and Schools

Duffy has signaled the campaign will continue, saying on social media that his agency purged nearly half of trucking schools from its approved list and placed thousands more drivers out of service for failing English standards. Training conducted after a school’s removal date is invalid, meaning drivers certified by a shut-down school may need to retest before returning to work, adding new uncertainty for an industry already short on drivers.

The dispute now sits at the center of a familiar argument in trucking regulation: whether removing thousands of drivers and schools protects the public, or whether it sweeps up legitimate training providers along with genuine fraud. Federal officials say the safety data settles that question. Some schools and worker groups say the government is still not drawing a clear line between fraud and honest mistakes.