Post Office phasing out migrant drivers as trucker crashes pile up

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will be tightening its licensing requirements for drivers as pressure mounts to boot poorly vetted migrants from the trucking industry.

The major federal agency is working with its contracted trucking providers to “phase out” the use of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) operators who have not been thoroughly screened by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to a statement released late Monday. USPS says the move is in line with the Department of Transportation’s efforts to tighten regulations over non-domiciled CDLs.

“The safety of our employees, our customers, and the American public is of the utmost concern to the Postal Service,” Amber McReynolds, chairwoman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, said in a prepared statement.

“In order to maintain the highest possible safety standards, we have decided to phase out any use of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License operators who have not been thoroughly vetted by the Postal Inspection Service,” McReynolds continued.

Non-domiciled CDLs are commercial licenses issued by state governments to drivers who are not residents of that state, typically applying to foreign nationals. These licenses have become the focus of national debate as a string of fatal crashes by foreign nationals, many of whom entered the country illegally, have spurred the Trump administration to make comprehensive changes.

Harjinder Singh is accused of taking an illegal U-turn off a Florida turnpike in August, blocking all lanes and instantly killing three people in a vehicle that smashed into his tractor-trailer. In October, Jashanpreet Singh allegedly rammed into multiple vehicles off a California highway, killing three individuals in the process. Both men are Indian nationals who entered the U.S. unlawfully.

Rajinder Kumar, an Indian national arrested for allegedly causing a fatal accident along an Oregon highway in November, is currently wanted by federal immigration officials for entering the country unlawfully. Kamalpreet Singh, another illegal migrant from India, is accused of causing a fatal accident in Washington State in December while driving a semi-truck.

Two other Indian nationals, Gurpreet Singh and Jasper Singh, were arrested on Saturday in Indiana for allegedly hauling hundreds of pounds of cocaine in the sleeper berth of their semi-truck. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that both men are illegal migrants who scored non-domiciled CDLs from California officials.

USPS argued that tightening the use of non-domiciled CDL drivers would provide an additional “layer of protection and safety” as it seeks to improve transportation.

“USPS just completed an extremely safe and efficient peak season delivering the nation’s holiday mail and packages,” Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner said in a prepared statement. “We believe this additional requirement will strengthen the safety, efficiency and reliability of our services into the future.”

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