Transportation secretary outlines limits of federal power as enforcement targets commercial licenses but not taxis or app-based drivers
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sean Duffy said thousands of commercial truck drivers have been removed from U.S. roads under new federal enforcement actions, while acknowledging that similar standards cannot currently be applied to ride-share and taxi drivers due to legal and jurisdictional limits.
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Duffy said federal regulators have authority over commercial driver licensing but not over the state-issued licenses used by drivers working for services such as Uber and Lyft. During the meeting, which was broadcast live, he explained the distinction between the two systems.
“The problem is that our states are the ones that issue these licenses. So with commercial driver’s licenses, we do have some federal control,” Duffy said during the Cabinet meeting, emphasizing that federal oversight applies to commercial trucking but not to local passenger transportation services.
Federal enforcement is carried out through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which sets nationwide safety requirements for commercial drivers. Among those standards is a requirement that drivers be able to read and speak English sufficiently to understand traffic signs, communicate with law enforcement, and respond to emergencies.
Duffy said the administration used that authority to remove approximately 17,000 drivers who did not meet those requirements, including individuals who obtained licenses through programs he described as lacking proper oversight.
“This is like the ‘Learning Center’. You pay $800, you get a certificate that you passed a CDL driving school, and they have no skills. They haven’t gone through any of the testing, and then they get licenses, and they’re killing Americans on our roads,” he said.
A report by Just the News explained that ride-share and taxi drivers operate under state and municipal licensing systems, placing them outside the reach of federal transportation rules governing commercial trucking. Unlike CDL holders, these drivers are regulated by local agencies and are not subject to the same federally mandated language and safety standards.
Ride-share drivers typically hold standard driver’s licenses and comply with local requirements such as insurance, background checks, and vehicle inspections. Oversight varies by jurisdiction, with regulatory authority often held by state commissions or city-level agencies.
Data cited in the report show that a large share of the ride-share workforce consists of drivers who speak languages other than English at home. According to a Lyft Economic Impact Report, 43% of U.S. drivers fall into that category.
A 2023 California study found that drivers without English proficiency faced higher deactivation rates compared to fluent speakers, often tied to communication issues raised by passengers. Additional research from the University of Washington reported that a majority of ride-share drivers surveyed did not speak English as their first language, while historical data cited by The New York Times showed that only a small percentage of New York City taxi drivers were U.S.-born.
The federal crackdown on commercial drivers follows the introduction of new regulations governing CDL standards and enforcement, implemented after a series of fatal crashes involving drivers later found to be unqualified or improperly licensed.
One such crash on Florida’s Turnpike resulted in three fatalities, according to NBC Miami. Another incident in California led to multiple deaths, including a high school coach and his wife, as reported by Fox News. A separate crash in Tennessee also resulted in a fatality, according to reporting here.
Duffy said continued enforcement of commercial driver standards depends on coordination with states, noting that federal agencies can set requirements but rely on state cooperation to carry out licensing and enforcement actions.
He added that extending similar rules to ride-share and taxi drivers would require structural changes to existing law, as current regulations place those services under state and local control rather than federal oversight.