Fox News Features CVTA Chairman Jeff Burkhardt's Response to Rep. Jasmine Crockett

In a recent Fox News op-ed, CVTA Chairman Jeffrey Burkhardt addressed the need to uphold professional standards to keep commercial driving safe for motorists, drivers, and the supply chain.

Responding to remarks made by Rep. Jasmine Crockett during a House Judiciary Committee hearing downplaying the importance of English language proficiency for commercial drivers, CVTA's Chairman emphasized that equating the operation of an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle to driving a passenger car fundamentally misrepresents the responsibilities placed on professional drivers.

Commercial drivers must interpret roadside signage, respond to emergency instructions, comply with law enforcement, understand weather alerts, and coordinate with dispatchers, inspectors, and first responders, often under demanding conditions. Burkhardt noted that English proficiency is essential for these tasks and has long been required by federal law as part of the commercial driver licensing framework.

As an industry leader, Burkhardt framed the debate within a national regulatory context, emphasizing that weaker safety standards undermine public trust in the commercial driver licensing system nationwide. Inconsistent or reduced standards affect not only individual drivers but also the safety of motorists and the reliability of the national supply chain.

The op-ed also highlights ongoing enforcement actions uncovering fraudulent or substandard training operations, including falsified records, shortcuts, and exploitation of regulatory gaps. Burkhardt stressed that these practices endanger public safety and undermine the professionalism of compliant drivers and training providers, who provide legitimate training that cannot be rushed or reduced to paperwork. Effective preparation requires classroom instruction, hands-on skills development, supervised behind-the-wheel training, and clear communication between instructors and students. These are baseline expectations for a safety-critical profession.

Burkhardt makes clear that workforce growth and safety are not competing priorities; growth must never come at the expense of safety. CVTA supports expanding access to trucking careers, but growth must be grounded in accountability. Lowering standards does not address workforce challenges; it increases risk, invites scrutiny, and weakens the profession.

As outlined in the op-ed, the solution is not new mandates, but consistent nationwide enforcement of existing requirements, including entry-level driver training rules, meaningful audits, and the removal of fraudulent training operations. CVTA continues to support a strong federal–state partnership to ensure every commercial driver operating on public highways has earned that responsibility through legitimate training and lawful credentialing. Read CVTA Chairman Jeff Burkhardt's Op-Ed here.