Texas, Pennsylvania lead states in CDL school shutdowns

The state-by-state breakdown released by DOT includes:

DOT also said 23 additional training schools operated online and had no physical location, and Duffy has ordered a review of those providers.

The 84 schools identified by state plus the 23 online providers account for 107 schools. DOT’s state breakdown therefore does not fully account for the 110 schools Duffy said Monday were subject to emergency removal.

Federal officials have not released a complete list identifying all of the schools by name.

Texas, Pennsylvania, California account for nearly half of physical schools

Texas, Pennsylvania and California together accounted for 37 of the 84 physical-location schools, or about 44% of those identified in DOT’s state breakdown.

Adding Florida and Utah brings the five states’ combined total to 56 schools, representing two-thirds of the physical-location providers identified by DOT.

The geographic breakdown provides the first detailed look at where the schools targeted in the federal crackdown were operating. Monday’s initial announcement did not provide a complete list of the affected schools or their locations.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said Monday that every school targeted for emergency removal had trained at least 10 drivers who were subsequently cited during roadside inspections for failing to meet federal English-language proficiency requirements. Collectively, the schools certified more than 5,000 drivers later cited for those violations.

Federal regulations require entry-level driver training providers to teach drivers about English-language proficiency requirements and certify that trainees meet applicable standards before completing training.

Barrs specifically identified ASC Technical Institute in Texas, saying it certified 58 drivers who were later cited for English-language proficiency violations. Barrs said one of its former trainees subsequently ran a stop sign and killed a man in Texas.

He also identified Platinum Plus Truck Driving School in California, which he said certified 36 drivers later cited for English-language proficiency violations. One of those trainees was involved in a fatal crash in Oklahoma, according to Barrs.

Why it matters: The state breakdown shows the CDL training crackdown is concentrated in several major trucking states, with Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Florida and Utah accounting for two-thirds of the physical-location schools identified by DOT.