A trucking industry advocate warned on Newsmax on Saturday that U.S. states should be held accountable for granting commercial drivers licenses (CDL) to applicants who cannot read or speak English, saying the practice has contributed to rising fatalities on America's highways.
James Lamb, executive director of the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC), appeared on "Saturday Agenda" to discuss the dangers posed by truck drivers who lack English proficiency.
"You know what's going on here. And you mentioned [former President Barack] Obama, and that's a really good place to start because, you know, we have to look at what's been happening over the last decade on the highways with large trucks and accidents and fatalities," Lamb said.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accidents involving large trucks have increased sharply over the past decade. "Back in 2013, we were at 73,000 for the year. Fast forward to 2023, 114,552. That's a 57% increase in what's been going on over the last decade," Lamb said. He added that fatalities also rose from 3,921 in 2013 to 5,375 in 2023, a 37% increase.
"Clearly, things on the road have gotten very bad over the last decade. And here we are now dealing with this. And the question is, why has that happened?" Lamb said.
He argued that some major trucking companies have contributed to the problem by hiring foreign drivers who may not meet U.S. standards.
"They're not being held responsible. And, you know, we represent small carriers. We represent independent truckers. That's what the SBTC is all about. We're not big trucking, but those big carriers that are out there, they go to Congress all the time, and they say there's a driver shortage," Lamb said.
"But all we know is that we are seeing incident after incident. And, you know, let's go back a couple of months in Texas, five people were killed. We're seeing this over and over again."
"Mr. Singh is not the first person who's an illegal immigrant who was hired by a trucking company, who doesn't speak English, who has killed people on the highways," Lamb added, referencing a recent crash in Florida involving Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old semi-truck driver from India, who killed the driver of the other vehicle and its two passengers.
"We have to look at the states that are giving out these licenses. And, you know, we've made a number of petitions over the last 90 days. And we've asked for a full-blown investigation into how these people are getting these licenses and causing this much damage," he added.
The Biden and Obama administrations had previously relaxed visa and licensing rules, but the Trump administration is reversing course.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a freeze on work visas for truck drivers who cannot pass a basic English proficiency test, following an executive order from President Donald Trump that requires stricter enforcement of language standards for commercial drivers.
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.