Several recent fatal truck crashes involving poorly trained, non-English-speaking illegal immigrants have alerted the public to reckless licensing policies on the part of states that go out of their way to accommodate illegal immigrants. The Department of Transportation found that 1 in 4 California commercial driver’s licenses handed out to “non-domiciled” drivers were issued improperly.
These unqualified drivers, along with the recalcitrant states that issue the CDLs, bear culpability for the deaths and injuries that result. But for these circumstances to turn deadly, a third party must be involved: a trucking company prepared to put one of these drivers behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound big-rig.
Legitimate trucking companies are not going to hire someone just because they have a CDL and work authorization from the federal government. Before they put someone behind the wheel of a $200,000 vehicle, they are likely to put them through their own rigorous training programs and thorough background checks. Additionally, the top 10 trucking companies in the United States generate a quarter of a trillion dollars in revenues each year, exposing themselves to significant liability if one of their drivers is responsible for a crash.
TRUCKER IN FLORIDA TRIPLE FATAL FAILED CDL EXAM 10 TIMES
Big trucking companies, with reputations and assets to protect, account for only a small percentage of the industry — 95.5% of trucking companies in the U.S. operate fewer than 10 vehicles. And a growing number of them are not even based in the U.S. Increasingly, the truck barreling down the highway in the lane next to you may be owned by a company based in places such as Serbia, India, or Pakistan.
Zach Meiborg, the owner of Meiborg Brothers Trucking — a mid-sized company with about 550 trucks — based in Rockford, Illinois, warns that these shady foreign-owned companies are not only eating into businesses like his that play by the rules, but are also cutting corners when it comes to safety. Aside from hiring illegal immigrants with dubious driving credentials, they are also “breaking electronic logbook and other federal laws every day, while regulators look the other way,” Meiborg said.
These foreign-owned trucking companies, employing drivers who speak little English and cannot decipher basic road signs, “are breaking every law across the board. Meanwhile, American carriers following the law are being driven out of business,” he charges. Among those laws is a 2018 requirement by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that truckers use electronic monitoring devices (e-logs) to track their hours behind the wheel, accidents, and the frequency of unsafe driving.
Many of the e-log devices in use are easy for unscrupulous truckers, especially those based overseas, to manipulate. “The most common is the inputting of false data into the device,” or disconnecting them entirely, reports a Texas law firm that specializes in personal injury cases. “In some instances, [e-log] software has been reprogrammed by the company which allows them to control and manipulate what is reported in the logs.”
The issuing of CDLs is in the hands of the states, and DOT has penalized states that are failing to comply with new rules aimed at keeping these licenses out of the hands of illegal immigrants. Authorizing trucking companies to operate across state lines, however, falls under the purview of the federal government. Thus, even without the cooperation of states like California, which would rather forgo federal funds than comply with federal regulations, DOT, on its own, has the ability to limit the carnage on our roads.
FLORIDA SUES CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON FOR LICENSING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Companies that employ unqualified drivers, falsify e-log data, and commit other infractions should have their business credentials revoked and their vehicles impounded. Moreover, if they are within reach of U.S. law enforcement, owners and officials of these companies should be subject to criminal prosecution in cases where their negligence has led to death or serious injury.
Even absent tragic crashes such as those caused by illegal immigrants with CDLs in Florida and California, the federal government must also protect the livelihoods of Americans working in this vital industry. As Meiborg complained, “We can’t compete against the cheaters, and our government, while …[it] is looking the other way when enforcement is needed. They’re letting foreign-owned companies take over the backbone of our economy, transportation, betraying the patriotic Americans who are just trying like hell to just get by.” And, he might have added, getting other Americans killed in the process.
Ira Mehlman is the Media Director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform
