Whistleblower exec warns illegal drivers creating ‘shockwave’ in key industry

FIRST ON FOX: Within the wake of a number of high-profile, deadly automobile crashes involving unlawful alien truck drivers, a pacesetter within the industrial trucking business is asking out the devastating “shockwave” that state security-licensed unlawful drivers have had on the business.

Mike Kucharski, co-owner and vice chairman of Illinois-based JKC Trucking, informed Fox Information Digital that unlawful alien industrial drivers usually are not solely endangering America’s roads however have additionally “killed the trucking business.”

He stated that whereas the issue has solely not too long ago been delivered to public consciousness in current months, drivers and trucking firms have been feeling the consequences for years.

“We knew there was an issue proper after COVID as a result of rates of interest have been falling, and we simply thought, ‘Okay, look, it is simply inflation… the wars and so forth, all these facets imply that volumes have fallen. We predict, ‘Okay. In the long term, these volumes will both return to pre-COVID situations or simply return to regular volumes, after which we will get again to work.’ However what occurred? The alternative occurred,” he stated. “They went down and stayed down, and we as truck drivers by no means knew what the issue was.”

WHITE HOUSE SAYS CALIFORNIA WILL LICENSE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER CHARGED FOR FATAL DUI CRASH

5 mugshots of alleged unlawful immigrants accused in deadly automobile crashes from throughout the US. From left to proper, the mugshots of Noelia Sarah Martinez-Avila, Juan Alfredo Chavarria-Lezama, Lionel Francisco, Mukendi Mbiya and Harjinder Singh, above a photograph of the scene of a deadly accident through which Singh has been charged. (ICE, Dane County Sheriff’s Workplace, Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Workplace, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Workplace)

Now, with current revelations from the Trump Division of Transportation and Secretary Sean Duffy about rampant unlawful alien truckers on America’s roads, Kucharski stated the reality has lastly come out.

Duffy launched a bombshell report Thursday accusing California of violating federal legislation by issuing a industrial driver’s license to an out-of-state asylum seeker whose semi-truck crash final week killed three individuals.

The report alleges that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration ignored a federal order to halt non-compliant permits and revoke improperly issued identification playing cards, a failure that Duffy stated price “three harmless souls.”

Federal regulators have discovered flaws in the way in which sure industrial truck drivers obtained California licenses. The 2025 Annual Program Overview and the Federal Motor Provider Security Administration (FMCSA) concluded that the state’s industrial driver’s license (CDL) system suffered from “systemic coverage, procedural and programming flaws” when it got here to dealing with non-domiciled licenses.

In an audit letter dated September 26, 2025, investigators additionally discovered that California had issued CDLs to non-domiciled drivers that have been legitimate even after their federal work allow had expired.

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A break up picture of a fiery truck crash and the suspected driver, Jashanpreet Singh, 21. Singh is accused of being excessive on medication on the time of the crash. (Obtained by Fox Information, ICE)

Kucharski additional defined that though it’s a closely regulated business, unlawful alien truck drivers can exploit a “loophole within the system” by acquiring non-domiciled industrial driver’s licenses from states reminiscent of California and New York. They’re then in a position to beat out respectable trucking firms by charging decrease costs, resulting in the demise of many American small companies within the business.

“As a enterprise proprietor, I assumed, ‘Nicely, who’s taking up all this burden?’ Now I may discover out that it is a new shock wave hitting the trucking business after COVID and the violent volatility. [non-domiciled] Drivers are available in and do it cheaper as a result of they do not care, and…they do not have a social safety quantity, and I am assuming they in all probability do not file taxes. So in case you’re not going to pay all of your payments, you possibly can after all do it cheaper and hold driving.”

“All our truck drivers are preventing for a similar load, and it goes to the bottom bidder,” he continued. “When drivers come who do not have a spot to dwell, they do not have household right here, they do not have a home, they dwell of their truck… They are saying, ‘OK, look, the entire market is doing it for $2,000, we’re doing it for $1,700.’ So it is placing small trucking firms out of enterprise on daily basis.”

“Frankly, we’re over-regulated within the trucking business. And whenever you’re over-regulated, you suppose, ‘Nicely, this may’t presumably be taking place, and it is taking place proper now as we converse,” he stated. “It is eye-opening, disturbing and breathtaking.”

Kucharski referred to as on Duffy and different business leaders to take motion.

Together with final week’s report, the U.S. Division of Transportation issued an emergency interim last rule that tightened requirements for non-domiciled CDLs throughout the nation. As a rule, the provisions modified to limit entry to candidates holding sure employment-based visas. It requires every state to confirm its authorized standing by the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.

Beneath the brand new rule, any non-domiciled industrial learner’s allow or CDL should expire no later than the expiration date on the motive force’s federal immigration file or after one 12 months, whichever comes first. It additionally states that states should hold proof of their lawful presence on file for at least two years.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER IN DEADLY CRASH IN CALIFORNIA MUST NEVER HAVE HAD A LICENSE: DOT REPORT

Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, speaks throughout a press convention in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)

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In response to Kucharski’s criticism, a spokesperson for Newsom informed Fox Information Digital that “California continues to comply with federal guidelines concerning CDLs.”

“What will get misplaced within the immigrant bashing is the truth that drivers with California-issued CDLs are concerned in deadly crashes at a fee far decrease than the nationwide common. If the main target have been on security, California ought to be an instance, not a scapegoat,” the spokesperson stated.

“In accordance with federal legislation, California has solely issued industrial driver’s licenses to drivers if the federal authorities confirmed their authorized presence,” the spokesperson continued, including, “The Trump Administration didn’t like these federal guidelines and not too long ago modified them to stop refugees, DACA holders and others from making use of for a CDL.”

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“This can be a very critical disaster problem,” Kucharski stated. “The trucking business depends upon belief. Meaning each driver on the street should be correctly licensed, correctly skilled and mentally and bodily match to function heavy gear.”

“All I can say is that methods like these remind us that reform isn’t just about coverage, [its] about human lives. And it is as much as all of us, from the regulators to the fleet house owners and the motive force trainers, to make sure the system works because it ought to.”

Fox Information Digital additionally reached out to Hochul’s workplace for remark however didn’t instantly obtain a response.

Fox Information Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Christina Shaw contributed to this report.