WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Thousands of truck-driving schools across the country could soon shut down after the U.S. Department of Transportation identified widespread compliance violations during recent investigations.
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Eddy Hooker, director of ACE Truck-Driving Academy in Waco, said the public often forgets how critical the trucking industry is to everyday life.
“If you stop and think about it, there's not anything that you use, wear, or eat that doesn't at some point move by truck,” Hooker said.
The potential closures come as the trucking industry faces a nationwide driver shortage. Federal transportation officials say as many as 4,500 training programs may be at risk, with more than half of the schools under review found to have at least one violation.
Those violations range from falsified training records to allowing students to test without completing required driving hours.
Hooker, who spent more than 50 years on the road before leading the Waco academy, said safety should always come first.
“The ones that take the shortcuts – try to beat the system or whatever – if they can get them out of business, good. As you can see, this is a huge vehicle. That is an absolute threat to the motoring public. I don't want them out there… I don't want them running over my family,” he said.
Hooker said he believes the industry’s reputation is often misunderstood.
“People have a view that it's just truck driving, you know, anybody can do it well. Not without proper training they can't,” he said.
Despite the nationwide review, Hooker said ACE Truck-Driving Academy is prepared to meet federal standards.
“This company has been really good about getting ahead of the curve, so to speak. When they first came out with the new federal regulations, we were doing that two years before it took effect,” Hooker said.
Federal officials said the goal of the review is to ensure safer, more consistent highway training — not to force schools to close. However, programs found out of compliance now have only a little more than a month to correct their violations.
Hooker said trucking remains a strong career path and hopes improved standards will help reinforce the importance of proper training.
“This business has been good to me for a long time… I love driving. It's different every day. You’ve got an office with a great view. It's a great time to get into it,” he said.
