DOT has called in law enforcement backup from the Department of Homeland Security, and now they're looking for tips on where to find CDL fraud.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the Homeland Security Investigations divisions of DHS are partnering with DOT and "cracking down on CDL fraud to save American lives," a recent ICE post on social media said.
"To report CDL fraud, report your tip by dialing 866-347-2423," the post concluded.
DOT and DHS top brass, along with nine state prosecutors and the White House's anti-fraud task force leaders in August announced a new "Joint Task Force Crossroads of America" partnership.
The announcement included the immediate, emergency shutdown of 110 CDL schools that graduated more than 10 drivers who later got English language proficiency violations, notices of proposed removals for 160 other schools that lacked adequate facilities or staff, and DHS law enforcement personnel sweeping some 200 other CDL schools.
[Related: CDL schools applaud DOT, DHS crackdown on 'deluge of bad actors' in driver training]
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Chief Derek Barrs said during the announcement that FMCSA "is going to be working with HSI" to audit third-party CDL testers "nationwide."
Not only testers, but states and state employees are under the microscope too.
[Related: FMCSA's emergency removals: Every CDL school shut down]
"If the states do not do what they're supposed to be doing, then there's consequences that will come with those states," said Barrs. "If you're not going to follow the rules, get out of the business or we're coming for you."
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said even companies that hire non-compliant drivers are in his crosshairs, also linking these practices to "chameleon carriers."
"We've identified a thousand a thousand fraud cases between individuals that work for state DMVs to companies that are hiring these individuals illegally, putting them in the or putting them on the streets to front companies to where literally these truck drivers will get pulled over, go into a truck stop, take off the uh the DOT numbers off the side of their truck and the name and simply put another one right over the top of it," said Mullin. "There's videos of it being shown all over the place and they're immediately right back in the business."
Mullin, with his comments, gets to the core of a longstanding issue for DOT -- Drivers placed out-of-service aren't necessarily stopped from driving.
DOT Secretary Sean Duffy has long said his agency doesn't have a law enforcement arm, and now Mullin and state prosecutors have vowed to take up the anti-fraud fight within trucking.
ICE @HSI_HQ and the Department of Transportation are cracking down on CDL fraud to save American lives.
☎️To report CDL fraud, report your tip by dialing 866-357-2423. pic.twitter.com/m0VMwDCTya— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) September 7, 2026
