The Federal Agency in Complete Chaos

How FMCSA's Management Meltdown Created a Lawless Trucking Industry

Four NTSB crashes involving medical fraud expose a truth more dangerous than individual bad actors. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration operates in complete administrative chaos. With many top leaders leaving, taking buyouts, or retiring, and with fewer than 1,000 employees managing a multi-trillion-dollar industry and a revolving door of political appointees often association chosen and driven by lobbying agendas and those same associations rather than crash data, the FMCSA has created regulatory anarchy that kills Americans. Some regs we shouldn't have, others we don’t have, and would make total common sense.

This isn't about medical certification alone. This is about an agency that can't implement laws passed by Congress, can't coordinate with state enforcement, can't deploy basic technology, and can't establish minimum training standards. The result is the highest commercial crash rates in history while regulators play bureaucratic games with people's lives.

When a motor carrier operates without policies, ignores safety requirements, and shows no accountability for performance, FMCSA would find that the carrier fleet has a lacking management structure, inadequate safety controls, and no accountability, which would result in imminent hazard orders, unsat rating, and may even shut them down. FMCSA operates exactly like the unsafe carriers it's supposed to regulate, and Americans die as a result. While I do see some light at the end of the tunnel in this administration, we’re more rudderless as an independent agency than we've ever been. Barrs isn't even supposed to start until next week at the earliest and still won't be confirmed yet.

The Medical Fraud Symptom That Exposes Systematic Failure

The Tri-State Collision crash killed 13 people in Palm Springs because both drivers had fraudulent medical certificates. The truck driver had untreated sleep apnea. The bus driver had untreated diabetes despite testing positive for glucose during certification. Medical examiners ignored obvious disqualifying conditions.

The Pioneer Transportation pile-up killed one person when all three commercial drivers involved had lied about medical conditions. The Glenn Chappell school bus crash killed six people when a driver with active seizure disorder and 12 previous incidents continued driving with an improperly filed medical certificate.

These cases reveal medical certification chaos. FMCSA eliminated diabetes waivers that required treatment monitoring, abandoned sleep apnea screening despite fatal crashes, and created a National Registry that still can't process PDF uploads 10 years after a congressional mandate.

Medical fraud is just one symptom of agency-wide management collapse.

The Entry Level Driver Training Gutting

Congress mandated Entry Level Driver Training to ensure new commercial drivers receive adequate preparation. FMCSA gutted ELDT requirements to appease training school lobbying. No minimum training hours. The result is undertrained drivers entering the commercial pool at exactly the moment when crash rates are hitting record highs. New drivers need more training than ever. FMCSA provides less oversight than ever.

Road tests are not required with a CDL. The most basic skill verification…can the driver actually operate the vehicle safely, has been eliminated from licensing requirements. States issue CDLs based on paperwork rather than driving competence. ELDT exists on paper but provides no actual training standards. Like medical certification, it's a regulatory facade that creates a compliance illusion while providing no safety improvement.

The Drug and Alcohol Testing Disaster

Oral fluid testing has been approved for years but remains unimplemented because FMCSA can't manage laboratory certification. Hair follicle testing has been pushed back repeatedly due to administrative incompetence here and with the HHS. Advanced detection methods exist but can't be deployed because federal managers lack implementation capabilities.

Commercial drivers operate under urine-only protocols that provide limited detection windows and easy circumvention. The technology exists for comprehensive impairment detection. FMCSA can't execute deployment plans. Return-to-duty protocols are inconsistently applied. Medical Review Officer standards vary. The entire impairment detection system operates without federal coordination or accountability.

The Continuous Licensing Monitoring Absence

Commercial drivers can lose state licenses for serious violations while maintaining federal CDL privileges. No system exists to monitor state-level license actions and coordinate federal responses. Dangerous drivers continue operating commercial vehicles after being prohibited from driving personal vehicles.

Continuous monitoring technology is available and utilized if the fleet wants to use it, but it’s not a requirement. Background check systems can detect criminal activity, license suspensions, and violation patterns in real-time. The FMCSA has never implemented continuous monitoring, despite its obvious safety benefits. The most basic safety concept, monitoring driver fitness throughout their career rather than only at license renewal, remains beyond FMCSA's administrative capabilities.

The State-Federal Coordination Breakdown

States interpret federal regulations differently and enforce requirements inconsistently. English Language Proficiency became federal law in June 2025. Multiple states ignore ELP requirements during inspections because FMCSA provides no enforcement coordination.

The recent White Hawk Carriers case involved a driver who failed basic English testing but continued operating because state and federal agencies don't communicate violation information. New Mexico conducted roadside inspections without administering required ELP assessments.

Medical certificate filing requirements vary by state. CDL testing standards differ across jurisdictions. Hours-of-service enforcement depends on which state conducts inspections. Federal regulations exist but state implementation determines actual compliance.

FMCSA created a federal regulatory framework but can't coordinate state enforcement. The result is 50 different interpretations of commercial vehicle safety requirements.

The TWIC Integration Failure

Transportation Worker Identification Credentials provide verified background checks and security clearances for commercial drivers. TWIC cards could be integrated into CDL systems to prevent fraud, verify identity, and streamline security requirements.

FMCSA has never developed TWIC integration despite having secure identification systems already in place. Drivers carry multiple credentials for the same verification purposes because federal agencies can't coordinate basic database systems.

TWIC technology could prevent chameleon carrier fraud, identity theft, and documentation forgery. The infrastructure exists, but administrative incompetence prevents deployment.

The Lobbying-Driven Rule-Making Problem

FMCSA policy development responds to industry lobbying rather than crash data analysis. Sleep apnea screening was killed after carrier complaints despite NTSB fatal crash investigations. ELDT requirements were gutted after training school pressure despite rising crash rates.

Medical examiner accountability was reduced after physician complaints despite documented fraud cases. Hours-of-service flexibility was increased after driver protests despite fatigue-related crashes. Technology mandates are delayed after carrier cost objections despite available safety systems.

Every safety improvement faces industry opposition that FMCSA accommodates rather than challenging with crash prevention evidence. The agency operates as an industry-sector advocate rather than a safety regulator. I say industry-sector advocate because the primary lobbyist is a national association that really represents only 7% of carriers. The other 93% of carriers are us, the small, less than 10-truck, grassroots, mom-and-pop farmers and owner-operators.

The Revolving Door Leadership Crisis

FMCSA averages new administrators every 18 months. Political appointees arrive with no industry experience, implement politically driven policies, then leave before seeing results. Career bureaucrats manage day-to-day operations without consistent leadership direction.

Each new administration reverses previous policies regardless of effectiveness. Sleep apnea screening was developed, then killed, then reconsidered, then abandoned based on political preferences rather than safety data. ELDT was created, then gutted, then modified based on lobbying pressure rather than training effectiveness.

Regulatory consistency requires leadership stability. FMCSA provides neither, creating policy chaos that prevents effective safety management.

The Resource Management Incompetence

FMCSA manages a multi-trillion-dollar transportation industry with fewer than 1,000 employees. State inspection programs are underfunded. Enforcement personnel are understaffed. Technology systems are outdated. Training programs are inadequate.

Commercial aviation safety is managed by FAA with extensive resources, rigorous training, and comprehensive oversight. FMCSA manages commercial trucking safety with minimal resources, inconsistent training, and spotty oversight despite comparable economic importance and safety risks.

The resource allocation reflects political priorities rather than safety priorities. Aviation gets comprehensive regulation because airplane crashes make headlines. Trucking gets minimal regulation despite higher fatality rates because truck crashes are treated as routine.

The Crash Rate

Commercial vehicle crash rates are at historic highs despite decades of safety regulations. Fatalities continue increasing while FMCSA claims safety improvements. The regulatory system produces compliance theater rather than crash prevention.

Advanced safety technology exists but isn't mandated. Comprehensive training programs are available but not required. Continuous monitoring systems work but aren't implemented. Medical screening protocols are proven but abandoned. Every component needed for commercial vehicle safety exists. FMCSA can't coordinate implementation because administrative chaos prevents coherent policy execution.

The Current Administration's Uphill Battle

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy inherited regulatory wreckage from decades of administrative incompetence. English Language Proficiency enforcement is being implemented. Chameleon carrier detection is being prioritized. Medical examiner accountability is being increased.

The systematic management problems require comprehensive administrative reform. FMCSA needs competent leadership, adequate resources, technology modernization, state coordination protocols, and accountability mechanisms.

The entrenched bureaucracy resists reform because chaos benefits special interests that profit from regulatory confusion. Clear standards and consistent enforcement threaten business models built on gaming the system.

The Bottom Line Assessment

FMCSA operates like an unsatisfactory-rated motor carrier that would face immediate shutdown orders if subjected to its own regulatory standards. Policy implementation failures, resource management incompetence, training deficiencies, technology deployment problems, and enforcement inconsistencies create imminent hazards for highway safety.

The agency responsible for commercial vehicle safety operates below the standards required of the carriers it regulates. With fewer than 1,000 employees managing millions of commercial drivers and hundreds of thousands of carriers, FMCSA lacks the administrative capacity for effective oversight.

Political appointee turnover prevents consistent policy development. Lobbying influence corrupts rule-making processes. State-federal coordination failures create enforcement gaps. Resource constraints limit oversight capabilities.

The Management Solution Required

Highway safety improvement requires administrative competence at the federal level. FMCSA needs stable leadership, adequate funding, modern technology systems, comprehensive training programs, and accountability mechanisms that match safety responsibilities.

Until federal managers can execute basic administrative functions, commercial carriers and professional drivers will continue operating in regulatory chaos that promotes fraud, ignores safety requirements, and punishes compliance while rewarding system manipulation.

Americans deserve transportation safety regulation managed with professional competence rather than political theater. The current system fails that basic standard and kills people as preventable crashes continue while regulators play bureaucratic games.

The trucking industry reflects the regulatory chaos at the top. Fix FMCSA's management problems, and industry safety performance will improve. Continue the administrative anarchy, and crash rates will continue climbing while Americans die from preventable tragedies.