Some 3,000 commercial driver's license training providers have been removed from the federal government's registry of authorized providers, and another 4,000 more have been warned they might face a similar fate.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the removals from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry (TPR) for failing to equip trainees with what a statement from the department called "the Trump administration’s standards of readiness." In making the announcement, Duffy took yet another opportunity to blame the Biden administration for a problem in the trucking industry.
“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain," said Duffy. "Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.”
The Training Provider Registry lists all providers authorized to offer federally required Entry-Level Driver Training for CDL students. This is the first step in FMCSA’s review of the 16,000 training providers listed on the TPR to identify and remove noncompliant providers, according to Duffy's statement.
He said CDL training providers are being removed from the TPR 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
Training providers that receive a notice of proposed removal have 30 days to respond to the FMCSA and provide evidence of compliance to avoid removal 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.
