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Trump announces 'Freedom Haulers' to fast‑track veterans into trucking jobs
Summary
At a White House event, President Donald J. Trump announced the "Freedom Haulers" initiative to prioritize veterans for commercial driver roles, saying military driving experience will allow veterans to skip redundant road tests and that states and companies are joining the program.
President Donald J. Trump announced a new initiative called "Freedom Haulers" at the White House, saying the program will prioritize military veterans for commercial driver's licenses and trucking jobs. "Under our brand new freedom haulers... any American who has driven a heavy truck for our military will automatically be eligible for a commercial driver's license," Trump said, adding the administration will "make it as easy as possible for the veterans within 2 years following their active duty service."
Trump framed the effort as a public‑safety and jobs initiative, arguing that it will replace "unqualified illegal aliens" he said were driving large rigs and causing fatalities. He cited several numeric claims about enforcement actions and outcomes, saying the administration "has already removed more than 24,000 non English speakers from behind the wheel" and that "we've also forced states to cancel more than 28,000 commercial driver's licenses unlawfully issued to illegal aliens." The president also said 34 states had joined the initiative and that data shows veteran truck drivers have "42% fewer accidents."
The announcement included implementation details Trump said would reduce training time for veterans and use existing veterans' benefits: "We're gonna use the GI Bill... You're gonna be able to actually get and use the money to go get your CDL license." He said veterans who lack prior military truck experience would be offered a "very quick pass" with approximately "3 or 4 weeks" of training. The administration did not provide independent verification of the numerical enforcement claims during the event.
The event closed with Trump asking Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and other officials to speak about next steps; Duffy directed listeners to freedomhaulers.dot.gov for information about program participation.
