Unlicensed Truckers Found in Stops, Crashes Across U.S.

This oversize load was stopped on Interstate 10 heading from Mesa, Ariz., toward Tonopah. A total of 32 violations were found. (AZDPS Highway Patrol via Facebook)

As access to non-domiciled commercial driver licenses tightens, law enforcement officers across the country are increasingly citing truck drivers without valid credentials during traffic stops, roadside inspections and crash investigations.

These incidents are occurring after 28,000 foreign truckers lost their non-domiciled CDLs when states revoked their illegally issued licenses. Stricter federal regulations are expected to remove nearly 200,000 drivers from hauling freight.

Washington

Recent public scrutiny in Washington has focused on a newly released video by Washington State Patrol that shows a trooper citing Juan Hernandez-Santos, an undocumented Mexican trucker, for having no CDL, logbook or medical card.

The video showed the driver lacked English proficiency and was ordered to refrain from getting behind the wheel, according to local media reports. The driver apparently was released. His truck appeared to be parked but not towed.

The video’s recent release prompted questions about how Hernandez-Santos again drove through Washington weeks later and allegedly caused a multivehicle crash.

He reportedly drove an 18-wheeler into another vehicle on Interstate 5 in Lacey on Dec. 4, causing a six-car pileup and hitting a school bus, according to the Department of Homeland Security. No children were in the bus, but several people were injured in the crash.

Trooper Kameron Watts said driving at “speeds too fast for conditions” allegedly “caused the semi truck to lose control and jackknife.”

Iowa

Meanwhile, Iowa State Patrol officers in early June responded to a call about a semi stuck in a ditch on Interstate 80.

An investigation revealed the passenger “just wanted to go home” and got behind the wheel despite purportedly lacking a CDL, ISP stated. The passenger reportedly “started driving the truck while the actual driver was asleep in the sleeper.”

Officers also discovered the actual driver’s CDL was suspended.

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The operator of this rig on Interstate 80 in Iowa purportedly lacked a CDL — and he wasn't even the vehicle's authorized driver. (Iowa State Patrol Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit Via Facebook)

“Subsequently, they did not return home as soon as the passenger had hoped. Numerous violations and out-of-service violations were issued during this inspection,” ISP noted.

California

The California Highway Patrol recently was called to two incidents involving unlicensed truckers.

On June 11, CHP officers from the northern Willows station found a trucker who apparently had no driver’s license, along with his red big rig and trailer sideways blocking the road.

The driver had been traveling northbound on I-5 south of County Road 68 when the vehicle “drifted onto the right shoulder” shortly before midnight, CHP noted.

“In what appears to be an attempt to bring the vehicle back onto the roadway, the driver swerved to the left which caused the truck and trailer to overturn, dumping the contents of the ruptured trailer into the center median and blocking the fast lane,” CHP stated. “The driver, who was unlicensed, was taken to Enloe medical center with what appeared to be minor injuries.”

Caltrans helped close one traffic lane, while cleanup from the crash was completed about 8 a.m. the next day.

Officers issued a public warning to truckers about pulling over to a safe area to rest. “The effects of driving fatigued very closely mimic the effects of driving intoxicated. Don’t take that risk,” CHP stated.

In another incident, a CHP commercial vehicle officer from the Modesto office stopped a trucker reportedly driving 71 mph on the north-south state Route 99 near Salida in the Central Valley area south of Sacramento.

CHP noted the speed limit is 55 mph when towing a trailer in the state.

“The driver was unlicensed, and the passenger was found unrestrained on the floorboard of the cab, which only had one seat,” CHP stated June 8. “The combination of speeding, unlicensed driving and unsafe passenger transportation resulted in the vehicle being impounded.”

Georgia

Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies rushed to a May 6 call about an overturned tractor-trailer on state Route 83.

They arrested truck driver Kheino Bennett, 44, of Florida, for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and drug-related objects. He was also cited for operating a CMV without a valid license or driving privileges.

Bennett reportedly told deputies he saw a “railroad crossing arm down with the lights flashing and the approaching train too late to stop.” He then “applied his brakes abruptly and steered in an attempt to avoid a collision. This maneuver caused the truck to overturn and strike one of the train’s cargo cars.”

Deputies indicated the crash impact “caused a train car to derail, bringing the train to a stop” near two roads, which had to be closed for a lengthy period during an investigation.

Arizona

The Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol announced a May 28 encounter with an unlicensed trucker by saying, “We really can’t make this one up.”

A CMV Enforcement Unit trooper stopped a truck on Interstate 10 carrying an oversize load during morning rush hour. The driver was leaving Mesa and traveling toward Tonopah.

“The Trooper noticed there were no lights on the trailer, and no flags … and that was just the tip of the iceberg. An inspection of the combination revealed 32 violations. No commercial driver’s license, no insurance, no oversize permit and no certified pilot car, just to name a few,” AZDPS stated.

The trooper discovered that 10 of the 14 brakes were inoperative, making the haul effectively unstoppable. The driver received numerous citations, and the vehicle was towed.

Alabama

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An inspection of a rig in on Interstate 20 in St. Clair County, Ala., on April 3 resulted in the confiscation of 185 pounds of marijuana (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency noted April 3 that a CMV inspection of a tractor on Interstate 20 in St. Clair County led to a large drug bust.

“The driver, who was determined to be an illegal immigrant, was later identified as Dajun Sun, 57, of Oregon City, Ore. Further investigation of the tractor revealed 23 boxes that contained approximately 185 pounds of marijuana,” ALEA noted.

After the vehicle was stopped for an inspection, an ALEA investigator reportedly discovered that the driver provided an invalid driver’s license.

Sun was arrested and charged with drug trafficking and operating a CMV without a CDL. He was booked into the St. Clair County Jail with a $1.5 million bond.

Oklahoma

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in March stopped a red tractor-trailer with a Maine tag in Custer County. The trooper reportedly witnessed the driver commit a traffic violation about 100 miles west of Oklahoma City.

The driver, Jose Carlos Morales-Gutierrez, a 31-year-old Mexican national, allegedly lacked a valid driver’s license, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Oklahoma.

Court documents state the trooper was talking with the driver while issuing a warning for an improperly sized Department of Transportation sign and became suspicious when questioning the driver.

Morales-Gutierrez allegedly initially said his load was going to New Jersey while the bill of lading had a New York destination.

The driver reportedly told the trooper about driving for his own trucking company called AMG, “but the current trip he was on was for his friend’s company called APC. The trooper noted company name on the side of the semi-truck said ‘AMDG,’ which was neither of the company names,” a criminal complaint stated.

The truck’s registration was found to have expired in September 2025. The trooper then used a K-9 unit to sniff around the truck and trailer. “Inside the trailer, law enforcement located a duffel bag containing more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office noted.

The driver remains in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service during ongoing court proceedings.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly referenced Oregon. The incidents occurred in Washington.