Indiana U.S. attorneys join push to stop trucking industry fraud

United States Attorneys from Indiana’s northern and southern districts have joined a national effort to tackle trucking industry fraud.

The U.S. departments of justice and transportation announced Monday that attorneys Adam Mildred and Tom Wheeler joined six other U.S. attorneys as part of the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, a nationwide effort across federal, state and local agencies to target criminal networks.

The task force builds on Vice President J.D. Vance’s agenda to target fraud in the country by securing highways and strengthening border security, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

The U.S. attorneys who joined the task force come from Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. The task force will ensure truck drivers on the roads are qualified and legally allowed to operate commercial vehicles. Alongside the Department of Transportation, the taskforce also will crack down on illegal practices in schools, which includes removing training licenses from instructors who repeatedly certify drivers who don’t meet federal qualification standards.

In the last 18 months, the Department of Transportation took more than 28,000 drivers off of roads for not speaking English, forced states to cancel more than 30,000 licenses that were illegally issued and purged more than 8,000 unqualified training schools from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration registry.

“To fully root out the scourge of fraud, hold criminals accountable, and restore safety, we need the support of federal law enforcement,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “I am so grateful for President Trump raising the alarm on this issue, and to Vice President Vance for leading the charge to crack down on fraud nationwide.

“From states failing to follow the law to shady training schools and illicit companies, together we will tackle every link in the chain.”