'Labor dumping' and trucking: Are foreign CDL drivers bringing down rates?

May 01, 2025 at 04:14 PM CST
With a new administration in Washington bent on changing federal immigration policy and enforcement, many in and around trucking have wondered: Does trucking have an "open borders" problem? At the Mid-America Trucking Show in March, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration got peppered with questions about English language proficiency and "non-domiciled CDLs," CDLs issued by one state to residents of another, or of a foreign country. Those are "live issues" which "will be addressed in the near future," according to FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison.

May 01, 2025 at 04:14 PM CST

With a new administration in Washington bent on changing federal immigration policy and enforcement, many in and around trucking have wondered: Does trucking have an "open borders" problem?

At the Mid-America Trucking Show in March, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration got peppered with questions about English language proficiency and "non-domiciled CDLs," CDLs issued by one state to residents of another, or of a foreign country.

Those are "live issues" which "will be addressed in the near future," according to FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison.