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(The Center Square) - Pennsylvania tied for the most physical training locations affected by a sweeping federal interagency crackdown on fraud in the commercial trucking industry announced Aug. 31.
State lawmakers, however, saw the need for action long before that.
Sen. Judy Ward, R-Hollidaysburg, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, introduced a three-bill package earlier this year aimed at tightening Pennsylvania's commercial driver training, licensing, and safety requirements.
Senate Bill 1294 became Act 50 of 2026 in July, increasing penalties for unauthorized CDL training schools. Senate Bill 1295 passed the Senate and remains before the House Transportation Committee, while Senate Bill 1296 remains pending in the Senate.
"The implementation of my Act 50 of 2026 by the Department of Education, coupled with federal enforcement actions, will end the unlawful operation of 'CDL mills' in this Commonwealth," said Ward in an email statement to The Center Square.
"Our next mission," Ward said, "is codifying English proficiency standards with my Senate Bill 1295 and the proposed federal regulation, which will reduce preventable truck crashes and reinforce commercial vehicle safety on our roadways."
Federal officials said a series of enforcement actions by the U.S. departments of Transportation, Homeland Security and Justice, would root out fraud in commercial driver training and licensing and improve highway safety.
Eight U.S. attorneys joined Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Derek Barrs, and White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud Vice Chairman Andrew Ferguson in announcing the initiative.
Officials were joined by Marcus Coleman and his daughter Dalilah, who was critically injured in a 2024 California crash involving a commercial truck driven by a man whom DHS says was in the U.S. illegally.
The Justice Department announced its new Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, which brings together eight U.S. attorneys' offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to target criminal networks and fraud in the industry.
"Thanks to the recklessness of sanctuary politicians, there is a growing and alarming trend of illegal aliens being granted commercial driver's licenses," said Mullin. "Many of them don't speak English or understand the rules of the road, and yet they're driving among us, endangering our loved ones."
Mullin said DHS and ICE are working to remove what he described as dangerous drivers from U.S. roadways, while the department's partnership with DOT is intended to root out CDL fraud and prevent people in the country illegally from obtaining commercial licenses.
FMCSA, an operating administration within DOT, oversees commercial motor vehicle safety and maintains the federal Training Provider Registry.
In July, FMCSA said it had identified approximately 75 entry-level driver training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including improper driver certifications, falsified training records, and failing to properly train CDL applicants.
The announcement included several additional enforcement actions.
FMCSA said it was executing the emergency removal of more than 110 entry-level driver training providers associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed English-language proficiency tests. The agency also announced a nationwide audit of third-party CDL skills testers and states' oversight of those testers.
Separately, nearly 400 investigations conducted in 40 states resulted in more than 160 notices of proposed removal from the Training Provider Registry. According to FMCSA, drivers certified by those providers were linked to 239 commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities.
"USDOT has spent the last year-and-a-half strengthening the rules of the road and removing dangerous foreign drivers from our trucking industry," said Duffy. "To fully root out the scourge of fraud, hold criminals accountable, and restore safety, we need the support of federal law enforcement."
Duffy said he was grateful for the Trump administration's role in leading the charge to crack down on fraud nationwide. "From states failing to follow the law to shady training schools and illicit companies, together we will tackle every link in the chain," he said.
Pennsylvania tied Texas for the most brick-and-mortar training facilities affected by the emergency action - with 13 each. According to a DOT breakdown provided to Fox News, California had 11, Florida 10, Utah nine, and the remaining states ranged from 1-7.
FMCSA's live Training Provider Registry, however, lists 20 Pennsylvania provider entries as "Emergency Removals" dated Aug. 31, including seven in Philadelphia alone. DOT's state breakdown counted physical training locations, while the registry simply lists individual provider records.
FMCSA roadside inspection data also show a number of driver-qualification violations recorded in Pennsylvania. Inspectors recorded 1,218 violations in 2025 for operating a commercial motor vehicle without possessing a valid CDL, and 749 through the agency's July 31 data snapshot in 2026.
Inspectors also recorded 946 English-language proficiency violations in 2025 and 538 through July 31, 2026. Federal regulations require commercial drivers to have sufficient English proficiency to communicate, understand highway traffic signs and signals, respond to official inquiries, and complete required reports and records.
Separately, a 2025 FMCSA audit of Pennsylvania's commercial driver's license program found procedural and programming errors involving non-domiciled CDLs - licenses issued to drivers who are not domiciled in Pennsylvania. FMCSA found that PennDOT issued some licenses beyond the expiration of a driver's lawful presence in the United States, issued some without requiring drivers to meet federal standards for proving lawful presence, and issued non-domiciled CDLs to lawful permanent residents who were eligible for regular CDLs.
FMCSA subsequently issued Pennsylvania a preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance. The commonwealth is one of 25 jurisdictions currently listed as having received such a determination.