Approximately 500 truck drivers were taken off the road for not meeting English proficiency standards in just three days with a “targeted” operation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) last month.
Operation SafeDRIVE occurred in 26 states and Washington, D.C., from Jan. 13-15, and it’s expected to be the “first phase” to crack down on both drivers and vehicles that might lead to road safety issues.
There were 704 drivers taken off the road in total (about 500 of whom were truck drivers), along with 1,231 vehicles out of 8,215 inspections. Notably, there were 56 people arrested as part of the operation, including those who are in the country illegally or for driving under the influence.
“Operation SafeDRIVE shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
“We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump Administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents,” he added.
The operation comes as the Trump administration has announced major crackdowns on Commercial Driver’s Licenses for illegal immigrants, especially after three people were allegedly killed on a Florida turnpike by Indian national Harjinder Singh, The Daily Wire reported. Last May, Duffy signed an order saying that if a driver cannot meet the English proficiency standards, they’ll be taken off the road.
“The failure to adequately enforce driver qualification standards poses serious safety concerns and increases the likelihood for a crash. As part of the driver qualification standard, FMCSA believes a driver’s failure to comply with the ELP qualification requirements constitutes a safety risk and that this risk was underestimated in previous agency enforcement discretion. Increased enforcement and the consequence of placing a driver out of service, instead of simply citing a driver for the violation, will lead to increased safety,” the policy memo states.
The government spending package signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday also solidified the president’s April 2025 Executive Order on the issue, according to Overdrive.
On Thursday, The Daily Wire reported that a truck driver illegally in the United States from Kyrgyzstan, who came in through the Biden administration’s CBP One app, allegedly killed four people in a Tuesday crash in Indiana.
FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said that the “operation was about safety.”
“When drivers ignore the rules, operate without proper qualifications, or get behind the wheel impaired, they put all of our lives at risk. Operation SafeDRIVE demonstrates the value of focused enforcement and strong partnerships in removing these drivers and vehicles from our roads,” Barrs said.
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