WASHINGTON — Regulators have banned 3,000 providers of truck driver training from a government registry for failing to meet service standards, with another 4,000 placed on notice due to potential noncompliance.
“Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways,” asserted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a press release issued on Monday.
“Under President Trump, we are reigning in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”
FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs added, “If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence.”
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration set new baselines for new truck drivers in 2022, including a requirement that driver training programs run by schools or fleets be listed in its Training Provider Registry (TPR).
The TPR requires that training schools certify that their curriculum and road theory meet the new entry-level driver training standards. Entry-level drivers who attempt to obtain credentials from a nonregistered training school will be rejected by their state licensing agency if the school is not registered.
In a review of the 16,000 training providers listed on the TPR, FMCSA has started removing noncompliant providers due to:
- Falsifying or manipulating training data.
- Neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications.
- Failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.
According to FMCSA, training providers that receive a notice of proposed removal have 30 days to provide evidence of compliance to avoid being removed from the registry.
“During this period, the provider’s name will be included on the TPR Proposed Removal List, and the provider must notify all current and scheduled driver-trainees of its proposed removal status,” the agency stated.
