White House wants veterans to replace immigrant truckers who lost their
licenses in crackdown
[July 25, 2026] By
JOSH FUNK
The Trump administration wants soldiers to consider becoming truck
drivers when they leave the military to help replace the tens of
thousands of immigrant drivers who lost their licenses in a crackdown
this year.
A new campaign launched Friday will promote programs that let veterans
who recently drove large military vehicles skip the required skills test
for a commercial driver’s license. Other soldiers can attend a
commercial driving school during their last six months of active duty.
The GI Bill will also pay for 100% of commercial driver's license
training and for some people even pay a housing allowance while they are
in school.
The campaign will be part of a broader interagency effort to help
veterans find good civilian jobs that the White House plans to announce
on Monday.
The Transportation Department began enforcing existing English language
requirements for truckers last summer. Concerns about truck driver
qualifications then took on more urgency after an August crash in
Florida, when a truck driver performed an illegal U-turn that killed
three people. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that driver, who
is from India, should never have been licensed in the first place.
Audits conducted in every state uncovered numerous non-domiciled
commercial driver's licenses that remained valid long after an
immigrant's work permits had expired or were issued without properly
verifying their citizenship status.
Since then, about 26,000 drivers have been pulled off the road for
failing to demonstrate English proficiency, and the Transportation
Department said 30,000 commercial licenses were canceled because they
were issued illegally. The federal government has tried to withhold
millions of dollars of highway funds from California and New York for
failing to comply and revoke thousands more licenses, but that has wound
up in court. Several other states — including Pennsylvania, Minnesota
and North Carolina — have been warned they are at risk of losing
funding.
“We are removing more and more dangerous foreign drivers off our roads
every day and restoring the integrity of America’s trucking industry,”
Duffy said. “Our new Freedom Haulers campaign will help build on these
successes and get the word out that there’s never been a better time for
America’s former service members to get behind the wheel of a big rig.”
The federal government has been actively enforcing CDL rules
The trucking industry has applauded the administration's effort to get
unqualified drivers off the road and close down sham CDL schools, and
companies praised this new effort to get more veterans behind the wheel.
“Veterans make up 15% of our workforce and bring the highest levels of
leadership, discipline and technical skills that are essential to our
success. We are dedicated to providing them with meaningful careers and
a supportive environment where they can thrive," said Derek Leathers,
who is chairman and CEO of Werner Enterprises.
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A U.S. Army soldier walks past a Bradley fighting vehicle staged in
West Potomac Park ahead of an upcoming military parade commemorating
the Army's 250th anniversary and coinciding with Donald Trump's 79th
birthday, June 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree
Nikhinson, File)
 Cole Stevens, who is chief strategy
officer at the trucking company that bears his last name, said
veterans' backgrounds make them great drivers.
“Some of the best drivers and industry leaders I’ve had the
privilege of working with are military veterans," Stevens said.
“Their integrity, accountability, and mission-first mindset make
them an incredible asset.”
In addition to enforcing existing restrictions, the government
announced plans to restrict which immigrants can qualify for a
non-domiciled commercial driver's license and require them to take
the test in English, but those rules are being challenged in court.
The only immigrant drivers who can get a license under the new rules
are holders of an H-2A, H-2A or E-2 visa. H-2A is for temporary
agricultural workers while H-2B is for temporary nonagricultural
workers, and E-2 is for people who make substantial investments in a
U.S. business.
Immigrants account for about 20% of all truck drivers, but all of
these non-domiciled licenses for immigrants represent only about 5%
of all commercial driver’s licenses, or about 200,000 drivers.
Some immigrant groups have said they believe that many drivers are
being unfairly targeted. The spotlight has been on Sikh truckers
because the driver in the Florida crash and the driver in another
fatal crash in California in October are both Sikh.
Truck driving may appeal to veterans
The Transportation Department plans to work with the Pentagon and
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Labor to promote the career
field as a good job that offers independence to veterans who don't
want a desk job in civilian life.
Veterans still have to study the rules and pass the written test for
a commercial driver's license, but soldiers who recently drove big
military vehicles over 2.5 tons (2.25 metric tons) can skip the
skills test. The government said more than 40,000 veterans have
already used that program, which can enable them to get on the road
within a few weeks.
The Transportation Department said that truck drivers currently make
an average of $70,000 a year, as the truck market has tightened up
and rates have increased.
Veterans who served for at least three years can also use the money
from the GI Bill program to pay for CDL training, and they might
even qualify for a housing stipend.
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