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A trucking industry insider is warning about a deadly danger rampant on U.S. highways: unqualified, under-trained commercial truckers, many of whom are illegal immigrants and cannot read basic road signage.
In an interview with Digital, Mike Kucharski, co-owner and vice president of Illinois-based JKC Trucking, issued an impassioned appeal for more investigations into the problem, saying, “This is just madness.”
“You wouldn’t put someone in a 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,” said Kucharski.
“Every day, truck drivers are driving alongside school buses, families and commuters just trying to get to work and back home safely,” he continued. “When unqualified drivers slip through the cracks, that creates risk for our motoring public, and you can see that there’s accidents all the time.”
CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND LAUNCHES ‘TRUCKSAFE TIPLINE’ TO REPORT ILLEGAL DRIVERS AMID SPIKE IN HIGHWAY DEATHS
Ohio officials say the semitruck driver charged in the fiery I-71 crash that killed a young family of three fraudulently obtained an Ohio driver’s license and later a CDL under an alternate identity, and the case has now been referred to ICE. (Courtney Hergesheimer/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | Facebook)
This week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into several commercial driving schools in the state for allegedly “endangering Texans by providing inadequate commercial driver training, including to non-English speakers.”
A statement by Paxton’s office said these practices violate federal law requiring basic English comprehension and Texas law mandating adequate training to operate a commercial vehicle.
Paxton’s investigation comes just months after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced his department had issued more than 550 notices of removal — decertification — to “sham CDL training schools” across the country. A statement by the DOT said the schools were found in violation of federal safety standards.
Speaking from inside the industry, Kucharski said that Duffy and Paxton are exactly right to crack down on the rampant CDL school abuse. He pointed to the ongoing spate of fatalities allegedly caused by individuals holding improperly issued CDLs.
In one recent case, Ohio officials revealed last week that Modou Ngom, a semi-truck driver charged in a fiery interstate crash that killed a young family of three, fraudulently obtained an Ohio driver’s license, a commercial driver’s license and later U.S. citizenship under an alternate identity.
Several months ago, in February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Indiana arrested Bekzhan Beishekeev, an illegal alien semi-truck driver issued a commercial driver’s license by Pennsylvania. The Department of Homeland Security said that Beishekeev allegedly killed four people on Feb. 3, when he swerved into oncoming traffic and struck a van in a head-on collision.
In Oregon, ICE also recently arrested Indian illegal immigrant Rajinder Kumar, who is accused of jackknifing his semi-truck and trailer, blocking both lanes of traffic, causing a crash that killed a newlywed couple.
There have been several other high-profile traffic fatalities involving illegal immigrants and improperly issued CDLs that have rocked the nation in recent months.
“This is just madness what’s happening,” he said, adding, “It has to stop because the longer this continues, there’s going to be more accidents, more people that are going to perish.”
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Left to right: Modou Ngom, Rajinder Kumar and Bekzhan Beishekeev. Background: The crash site on Indiana Highway 67 allegedly caused by Beishekeev. (Delaware County Jail; DHS; DHS)
Besides the danger posed to U.S. citizens on the roads, Kucharski said the abuse has been crushing the commercial trucking industry, and by extension, causing disruptions to the U.S. supply chain and impacting 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 the insurance costs, which has already risen for all of us; our insurance keeps going up, lawsuits, ultimately prices for the consumers.”
Kucharski has previously blown the whistle on illegal immigrants carrying sanctuary state licenses, sending a “shockwave” through the industry by edging out qualified, legitimate American drivers who require higher salaries.
He explained that illegal immigrant truck drivers can exploit a “loophole” in the system by obtaining non-domiciled commercial drivers’ licenses from states such as California and New York. They are then able to outcompete legitimate trucking businesses by charging lower prices, leading to the demise 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 went on. “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, saying, “They’re putting bad actors in there, and they’re causing chaos in the trucking industry.”
“It’s just a huge black eye to the trucking industry,” he said.
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JKC Trucking Vice President Mike Kucharski encouraged other trucking owners to “jump in and join the fight” against the abuse, which he referred to as an “abomination.” (Noah Berger/AP Photo)
“This investigation is absolutely necessary,” he continued. “It’s about protecting the American public and restoring trust in the industry.”
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He encouraged other trucking owners to “jump in and join the fight” against the abuse, which he referred to as an “abomination.”
“This driving school nightmare keeps me up at night,” he admitted. “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.“
