DOT Announces Closure of 110 Trucker Schools for English Language Incompetence, 160 for Other Violations

The Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday that they teamed up to shut down 270 truck driving schools that have been operating fraudulently.

The Details: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that, in tandem with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the federal government has shut down 160 schools for failing to meet DOT training requirements and 110 schools for failing to meet English-language proficiency standards. In a press release, the DOT described the effort as "building on Vice President Vance's agenda to root out fraud across the country."

Key Quotes: Duffy said, "What we are announcing is an emergency executive shutdown of 110 driving schools. So, these are driving schools that account for 5,000 of the violations for English proficiency… I didn't create that rule. President Trump didn't create that rule. That rule has been in place for decades." He added, "We also have shut down 160 additional schools [that] don't have adequate space to put a potential driver in a truck and have them go around the cones and do the turns. They don't have space to even allow the truck driver to actually get behind the wheel and drive. They have unlicensed instructors." The New York Times (Lean Left bias) said it reached out to some schools but did not receive a response.

Recurring Problem?: Duffy claimed that since the second Trump administration took office, there have been 239 people killed on American roadways involving commercial drivers who were "not proficient in the English language." The New York Times pointed out that the DOT said in 2025 nondomiciled commercial drivers – meaning nonpermanent foreign nationals authorized to work – caused at least 17 crashes and 30 deaths.

RELATED: CA Truck Crash Kills 4, Unauthorized Immigrant Arrested for Manslaughter, Driving Under Influence | AllSides

Actions Already Taken: The DOT said that since June 2025, over 28,000 drivers have been "placed out of service" for failing to demonstrate English-language proficiency. The department also said in the last 18 months it has forced states to revoke over 30,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers and removed 8,000 training schools from its list of accredited institutions. The Times described the pivot to federal action as an "apparent turning point" in the administration's approach.

Bias Notes: As of Tuesday morning, the story was more widely covered by the right. Outlets from the right were more likely to reference the total number of schools shut down in headlines as 270, whereas outlets from the left and center focused more on the English language cohort of 110 schools in headlines. Outlets from the left and center mentioned the additional 160 schools in their body coverage, however.

Mediaite (Lean Left) ran a story on a reporter who pushed back on Duffy, saying he had "strongly" slanted the issue to be "about illegals." Duffy replied, "Now, you've assumed that these are all illegals. Some of them are, some of them are not… It also has to do with people who are in the country lawfully, but they are not being trained."

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.