Driver Training Groups Push for More Enforcement

Federal regulators need to do more to ensure truck driving schools are properly training prospective drivers, according to two organizations.

The Commercial Vehicle Training Association and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools — two leading associations for professional truck driver accreditation programs — sent an April 11 letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asking him to ramp up enforcement of entry-level driver training.

More specifically, they voiced their concerns about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) oversight of the Training Provider Registry (TPR), which lists truck driving schools intended to ensure that entry-level drivers receive appropriate training before testing for a commercial driver’s license.

“While we applaud FMCSA for beginning the process of building the infrastructure for effective TPR oversight, we remain deeply concerned that enforcement actions have not kept pace with the threat posed by non-compliant and unscrupulous training entities,” the joint letter reads. “These bad actors undermine the integrity of the driver training community, exploit prospective students and jeopardize public safety by putting inadequately prepared drivers on the road.”

“As of April 11, only four training providers are listed as removed from the TPR since 2023,” the letter stated. “And despite hundreds of complaints made by citizens and state agencies, only 25 entities are listed as having been issued a Notice of Proposed Removal. The 25 proposed removals date back to August 2024, and there has been no progress into full removals to date.”

The groups argued that such limited enforcement actions fall “well short of what is needed to meaningfully protect students and the motoring public.”

The letter came six days after American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear sent his own letter to Duffy addressing this topic, among others.