(The Center Square) – The Office of Attorney General has opened an investigation into numerous commercial trucking schools in Texas as the state continues border security initiatives.
The OAG has sent Civil Investigative Demands to EP Texas Trucking School, Trucker Certified LLC, Fast Track CDL LLC, CDLCALL.COM LLC and Lindenwood Education System (Ancora) to assess if they are “providing inadequate commercial driver training, including to non-English speakers, in violation of state and federal law.”
The companies are located statewide. In west Texas, EP Texas Trucking School is located in Odessa and El Paso. In north Texas, Trucker Certified is located in Pampa, Amarillo, Plainview and Borger and Fast Track CDL is located in Garland. While CDLCALL’s main office is in Arlington, it also operates in San Antonio, the OAG says. The schools “also likely send graduates to trucking companies across the state, including major freight hubs such as Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston,” it said in a statement.
CIDs are sent to companies as part of a formal investigation and require documentation and response to questions to be provided within a specific timeframe.
The investigation was launched after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to begin cracking down on commercial driver’s license compliance last year, The Center Square reported. Texas DPS troopers were directed to enact “zero-tolerance enforcement of federal safety regulations across the board – whether drivers are operating across state lines or only within Texas.”
“Truckers play an instrumental role in Texas’ robust economy and in keeping our highways safe,” Abbott said. “Every commercial driver license operator on Texas roadways must be able to communicate clearly in English to ensure compliance with traffic laws, follow safety directions, and prevent accidents.”
In compliance with new federal requirements, Texas DPS also suspended issuing non-domicile CDLs and all CDLs to non-citizens who are refugees, asylees or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, The Center Square reported. The suspension also impacts the issuance of non-domicile CLPs and CLPs for non-citizen refugees, asylees and DACA recipients. However, Texas DPS says it “has never issued any type of license to asylum seekers who have not been approved for lawful presence.”
Texas DPS CDL enforcement is part of Abbott’s border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, which is in its fifth year of operation. Texas DPS troopers have been arresting illegal CDL drivers, including many with licenses from California and Mexico.
Federal regulations require CDL holders to “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, understand highway traffic signs and signals in English, respond to official inquiries, and make entries on reports and records.” Texas and federal law also mandate CDL training providers to adequately prepare students to safely operate commercial motor vehicles in compliance with all applicable safety standards.
“Preliminary findings suggest that certain schools are disregarding these requirements,” the OAG said. “For example, EP Trucking tells prospective students that English proficiency is not necessary to complete the program and advertises its services in Spanish.
“Several entities under investigation have also falsely claimed to be a certified school. Additionally, some programs advertise accelerated training timelines that are as short as approximately 20 days, which is well below the industry norm of three to seven weeks. Actions such as these indicate insufficient instruction and evaluation.”
OAG preliminary findings indicate the schools are in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act “and pose a significant risk to public safety,” it said. The goal of the investigation is to “ensure CDL students are protected from fraudulent trucking schools and that Texans are protected from the dangers posed by unqualified drivers.”
Texas’ action comes after the Trump administration took several emergency actions to ensure commercial driver’s license compliance and road safety. They include removing thousands of CDL training providers from a federal database, closing loopholes for nondomiciled CLPs, implementing new federal rules and regulations, among other measures.
The U.S. Department of Transportation also began withholding federal funds from states for noncompliance. Earlier this month, New York was the latest state to lose federal funding. It lost $73 million after refusing to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits” and CDLs after the DOT repeatedly warned of noncompliance with federal law.
