Truck School Crackdown: What DOT Actually Said

Several outlets added the two groups together and reported that 270 schools had been shut down. The New York Post reported the administration "orders 270 trucking schools to shutter." Breitbart News reported "Feds Shut Down 270 Truck Driving Schools." DOT's release describes no such single action. More than 110 were removed on an emergency basis; more than 160 were sent notices.

Where the 239 figure belongs

The number 239 has been attached to the whole crackdown in much of the coverage. It is not what the primary source says.

That is the claim. It is "linked to," not "caused by." It attaches to the 160-plus proposed-removal group, not to the 110-plus emergency removals, and not to the combined 270. And DOT does not attribute those fatalities to non-English-speaking drivers as a group — it describes a link between the fatalities and drivers certified by the flagged providers.

Breitbart's headline — "Feds Shut Down 270 Truck Driving Schools After 239 Deaths" — is Breitbart's framing, not the department's. Any figure describing what the 239 deaths were caused by, or by whom, is that outlet's alone and is not supported by the release.

DOT also says that over the past year and a half it has forced states to cancel over 30,000 licenses it says were illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 8,000 unqualified training schools from the FMCSA registry.

Every casualty and enforcement figure in this story comes from the podium. DOT is the sole source for all of it. None of it has been independently verified.

Who was in the room

Duffy appeared in Detroit with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs, White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud Vice Chairman Andrew Ferguson, and U.S. Attorneys Jerome Gorgon of the Eastern District of Michigan and Adam Mildred of the Northern District of Indiana. Also present were Marcus Coleman and his daughter Dalilah, who the release says was critically injured in a 2024 crash with an illegal alien driving.

The Justice Department used the event to announce the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, pairing U.S. Attorney's Offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio with the FBI, DEA, HSI, ICE, ATF and FMCSA.

A note on the coverage

The reporting on this announcement is almost entirely right-leaning. Of the outlets covering it — the New York Post, Breitbart News, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times, The Center Square, Legal Insurrection, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, WND, The Right Scoop and Conservative Treehouse — The Hill is the lone center-rated exception.

The Center Square reported that officials associated the 110 emergency-removal schools with more than 5,000 drivers who failed English language testing. That figure does not appear in DOT's release and is attributed here to that outlet's reporting.