PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A new federal hotline aimed at reporting suspected commercial driver's license fraud is putting truck drivers and the companies that employ them under increased scrutiny, while raising questions from transportation safety experts about whether the effort will improve safety or encourage profiling and unreliable accusations.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently launched the tip line, asking the public to report suspected CDL fraud by calling 866-347-2423.
WATCH BELOW: ICE CDL fraud tip line raises profiling concerns
Federal officials say the initiative is designed to crack down on dangerous or improperly licensed commercial drivers operating on U.S. roads.
"Too many American lives have been lost or permanently changed because illegal aliens who have no business being on our roads have been granted CDLs," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security. "ICE and our federal partners, including the Department of Transportation, will be cracking down on CDL fraud so that not one more American life is lost to a reckless illegal alien behind the wheel of a semi-truck."
The hotline announcement comes as federal and state officials continue investigating cases involving allegedly fraudulent commercial licenses, including a deadly Florida crash that drew national attention.
For more than a year, WPTV has reported on concerns surrounding CDL oversight and training standards. One case involved Harjinder Singh, who is accused of making an illegal U-turn in a semi-truck on Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County, causing a crash that killed three people.
Among the victims was the mother of Angeline Daudin.
"I wasn't able to see her and say, 'I love you, Mom,'" Daudin said following the crash.
Officials have alleged Singh's CDL was issued illegally in California. He remains in the St. Lucie County Jail while the criminal case proceeds.
Federal officials have pointed to cases like that as justification for increased enforcement and public reporting efforts targeting what they describe as fraudulent and illegal CDL practices.
But James Lewis, a transportation safety expert witness and former police officer, said he is skeptical the hotline will produce meaningful safety improvements.
"It seems like it's the flavor of the week," Lewis said.
Lewis argued that ordinary motorists have no reliable way to determine whether a truck driver is properly licensed or whether fraud was involved.
"There's no way that anyone who would be calling this tip line could actually know if this person has a valid license or not," he said.
He warned the hotline could instead lead to profiling of immigrant communities based on assumptions rather than evidence.
Lewis noted that some of the examples highlighted in federal messaging have involved immigrants from countries including India and Haiti, but he said fraud within the CDL system predates recent immigration concerns.
"Americans have been abusing the CDL system for years," Lewis said. "That's been going on long before Pakistanis and Indians started immigrating."
Lewis said one of the deeper issues is the persistence of "fast-track" CDL schools that promise licenses in just days despite federal training requirements established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2019.
The federal rule requires extensive behind-the-wheel and classroom training for new commercial drivers. Lewis said some programs advertising licenses within three to five days are operating in ways that undermine safety standards.
Recently, Florida officials shut down 10 CDL schools for alleged violations, while regulators nationwide have increased scrutiny of training programs that fail to meet federal standards.
Lewis said the larger concern is inexperienced drivers operating heavy commercial vehicles alongside everyday motorists.
"You have completely inexperienced, untrained people out there in a tractor-trailer loaded with stuff, driving next to your family in a minivan, and it's pretty scary," he said.
Rather than investing in a public hotline, Lewis said he believes federal and state governments should devote more resources to trained Department of Transportation officers already responsible for roadside inspections and weigh station enforcement.
"What I would really like to see is additional manpower, time, and pay for these DOT-trained state officers who already do the random inspections and the scale house inspections," he said.
WPTV asked both DHS and ICE to respond to Lewis' concerns about profiling and the reliability of public tips. The agencies referred questions back to ICE's original announcement about the hotline.
"I'm skeptical," Lewis said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
