A recent crackdown in Arizona led to the arrest of three dozen truck drivers, including three who were said not to possess any form of a driver’s license, let alone the authority to operate an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer.
Referred to as Operation Checkmate, U.S. Border Patrol Agents arrested 52 individuals during the week of May 11 for being in the U.S. illegally. Thirty-six of those arrested were driving semi-trucks, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“Of the 36 illegal alien semi-truck drivers arrested, 29 were in possession of commercial driver’s licenses from states such as California, New York, Washington and Virginia,” the CBP said. “Three did not possess any form of driver’s license. Thirty of the individuals were from India, while the remaining six were from Mexico, El Salvador and Russia.” The arrested drivers are now scheduled for deportation.
According to the Border Patrol, most of the drivers possessed expired Employment Authorization Documents.
“Operation Checkmate reflects our commitment to safeguarding communities and roads from unlawfully present drivers who pose significant risks to public safety,” said Dustin Caudle, acting chief patrol agent of the CBP’s Yuma, Ariz., sector. “My agents are on patrol every day to ensure we stop these individuals and prevent more deadly crashes from occurring on the road across the United States.”
DOT’s focus
In the past year, the U.S. Department of Transportation has focused on CDL standards and making sure that all truck drivers are properly vetted before being allowed to operate.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a final rule regarding non-domiciled CDLs that took effect in March. Under the rule, an Employment Authorization Document is no longer enough to obtain a non-domiciled CDL. FMCSA estimated that there were about 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders and that the final rule would force about 194,000 to “exit the freight market.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a House committee hearing in May that thousands of drivers, who were deemed illegal or unable to meet federal English-proficiency standards, have been removed from the roads.
“We’ve worked with states to cancel 28,000 illegally issued licenses for unqualified foreign drivers, and we’re holding some states that aren’t cooperating accountable,” Duffy said. “We all need to follow the same rules. We’ve also knocked out more than 20,000 drivers out of service for failing to meet basic requirements like reading our road signs or being able to communicate with law enforcement.” LL
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