A trucking industry insider warns that unqualified commercial drivers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, pose a significant danger on U.S. highways, calling the situation “just madness.”
A trucking industry insider has raised alarms about a growing threat on U.S. highways: unqualified and under-trained commercial truck drivers, many of whom are illegal immigrants unable to read basic road signs. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mike Kucharski, co-owner and vice president of Illinois-based JKC Trucking, made an impassioned appeal for increased investigations into this issue, stating, “This is just madness.”
Kucharski emphasized the importance of proper training and communication skills for truck drivers, drawing a parallel to aviation safety. “You wouldn’t put someone in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 flying from New York to California if they weren’t properly trained or couldn’t communicate clearly or speak English. The same standard should apply to our highways,” he said.
He highlighted the daily risks faced by motorists, including school buses, families, and commuters. “When unqualified drivers slip through the cracks, that creates risk for our motoring public, and you can see that there are accidents all the time,” he continued.
This week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated an investigation into several commercial driving schools in the state, alleging they are “endangering Texans by providing inadequate commercial driver training, including to non-English speakers.” According to a statement from Paxton’s office, these practices violate federal law, which requires basic English comprehension, as well as Texas law mandating adequate training for operating commercial vehicles.
Paxton’s investigation follows a recent announcement from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who revealed that his department had issued over 550 notices of removal—decertification—to “sham CDL training schools” across the country for violating federal safety standards.
Kucharski supports the actions taken by Duffy and Paxton, noting the alarming number of fatalities linked to individuals holding improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). One recent case involved Modou Ngom, a semi-truck driver charged in a fiery interstate crash that claimed the lives of a young family of three. Ngom allegedly fraudulently obtained an Ohio driver’s license, a commercial driver’s license, and later U.S. citizenship under an alternate identity.
In another incident, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Bekzhan Beishekeev, an illegal alien semi-truck driver who had been issued a commercial driver’s license by Pennsylvania. The Department of Homeland Security reported that Beishekeev allegedly caused a tragic accident on February 3, killing four people when he swerved into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a van.
Additionally, in Oregon, ICE arrested Rajinder Kumar, an illegal immigrant from India, who is accused of jackknifing his semi-truck and trailer, blocking both lanes of traffic and causing a crash that resulted in the deaths of a newlywed couple. These incidents are part of a disturbing trend of high-profile traffic fatalities involving illegal immigrants and improperly issued CDLs.
“This is just madness what’s happening,” Kucharski said, adding, “It has to stop because the longer this continues, there are going to be more accidents, more people that are going to perish.”
Beyond the immediate dangers posed to U.S. citizens on the roads, Kucharski pointed out that the abuse of CDL regulations is also harming the commercial trucking industry, which in turn disrupts the U.S. supply chain and affects prices. “This is an economic issue, not just a safety issue,” he emphasized. “When unqualified drivers get on the road, it doesn’t just increase risk; it drives up insurance costs, which have already risen for all of us. Our insurance keeps going up, along with lawsuits, ultimately leading to higher prices for consumers.”
Kucharski has previously raised concerns about illegal immigrants obtaining sanctuary state licenses, which has created a “shockwave” throughout the industry by undermining qualified American drivers who demand higher wages. He explained that illegal immigrant truck drivers can exploit a “loophole” by obtaining non-domiciled commercial drivers’ licenses from states like California and New York. This allows them to outcompete legitimate trucking businesses by offering lower prices, which threatens the viability of many American small businesses in the industry.
“All our truckers are fighting for the same load, and it goes to the lowest bidder,” he explained. “If you have these drivers coming in that are non-domiciled, they have no family here, they have no home, they live in their truck… They’re saying, ‘OK, look, all the market’s doing for $2,000, we’ll do it for $1,700.’ So, it’s putting small trucking businesses out of business every day.”
Regarding the CDL schools certifying unqualified drivers, Kucharski confirmed that “they’re putting bad actors in there, and they’re causing chaos in the trucking industry.” He described the situation as a “huge black eye” for the industry.
“This investigation is absolutely necessary,” he continued. “It’s about protecting the American public and restoring trust in the industry.” Kucharski encouraged other trucking owners to “jump in and join the fight” against this abuse, which he referred to as an “abomination.” He admitted, “This driving school nightmare keeps me up at night. Our job as owners is to educate everyone else that is not familiar, so we can come up with solutions together that keep the wheels rolling and the U.S. economy roaring,” according to Fox News.