Enforcement push is here to stay, Fuller says, as DOT counts 33,000 drivers pulled over English rules

Small carriers and brokers hoping Washington will ease up on trucking enforcement should not count on it, according to FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller. In a column published November 7, based on remarks he made November 2 at Optym's Convergence conference in Frisco, Texas, Fuller argued that the largest fleets want tighter rules and will keep pressing for them whoever holds power.

The timing matters because the federal numbers keep growing. On November 4, the U.S. Department of Transportation said 33,000 drivers have been removed from service nationwide for English-language proficiency failures, and 31,000 commercial driver's licenses were revoked as improperly issued. DOT also said nearly 10,000 commercial driving schools have been shut down. FreightWaves noted that DOT did not explain how it calculated those totals, so treat them as the department's own tally.

What the latest sweeps show

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced results from a 48-hour Arkansas operation on October 27 to 29, reported by FreightWaves on November 4. Inspectors ran 1,724 inspections and placed 393 drivers and vehicles out of service. They found 183 English-language violations, made 44 criminal arrests and referred 74 immigration violations. Duffy said the administration is "not slowing down."

Fuller also pointed to the non-domiciled CDL rule, which FMCSA published in February and which took effect March 16. He has estimated it could remove 5% to 7% of drivers from the market, a figure he first offered in a November 2025 debate. That is his estimate, not an FMCSA projection.

What it means for carriers

Plan for roadside scrutiny to stay high. Driver files, English-proficiency compliance and CDL provenance are now routine audit points, not edge cases. Carriers that hire from outside training pipelines should confirm that each school is still in good standing.

Registration costs are also moving. A petition filed October 20 by the Small Business in Transportation Coalition in the D.C. Circuit challenges the Unified Carrier Registration system. FreightWaves reported on November 3 that 2027 fees are rising about 20%, a figure the article did not attribute to a named source. The coalition's executive director, James Lamb, advised carriers to pay by December 31 in case the court has not ruled. The UCR Plan's executive director, Avelino Gutierrez, said carriers should register before enforcement begins January 1, 2027.

What shippers and brokers should watch

Fuller argued that brokers now handle more than 30% of freight, up from about 6% in the early 2000s, and that many loads leave a dock without anyone checking that the right truck arrived. Fuller made both claims himself, and neither is government data. After the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on May 14 in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that state negligent-hiring claims against brokers can proceed, carrier vetting is a liability issue as well as a service one.

Tighter enforcement removes capacity at the margin, which supports the tender rejection and contract rate trends carriers are already seeing. Brokers and shippers should expect longer vetting and fewer marginal carriers on the board.