No, millions of foreign truck drivers aren’t flooding into the U.S. (American Trucking Associations) Mar 12, 2025 A smattering of media reports has advanced a dubious claim that millions of foreign truck drivers have flooded into the U.S. in recent years, displacing American workers and jeopardizing highway safety. The basis for the claim is an analysis of federal data that purports to show 1.68 million commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders added to the U.S. driver pool between 2016 and 2024. While the originators of the claim do not explicitly source their data, all indications are it comes from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). This analysis is deeply flawed on two levels. First, the CDL data in the MCMIS database includes more than just Class A CDL holders operating heavy-duty tractor-trailers. It also includes Class B CDL holders for vehicles like buses, limos, and various utility vans used by cable, plumbing, and construction companies (many of which require employees to obtain CDLs for safety and insurance purposes, even though not required by law). To claim or insinuate the additional CDLs added over the last decade are all for the tractor-trailer driver market is incorrect. But even more to the point, a glaring problem with the MCMIS database is that it is self-reported and subject to massive data entry errors.
This story is about a right-wing conspiracy about CDLs based on misinterpreting things on the MCMIS database. and it really reminds me of how anti-vax conspiracy fictions use the VAERS database to mix up data that doesn’t show anything like what they say.
You’re using VAERS wrong Debunk the Funk with Dr. Wilson Premiered Dec 21, 2021 Dr. Wilson: “This is a system that anybody can report adverse events to, and while doctors are required to report serious adverse events following vaccination to this system anybody can report anything to it. Even if the event clearly had nothing to do with the vaccine or didn’t happen at all. For example, events reported to and documented by the VAERS database have in the past included things like getting a bald spot, getting a nosebleed, being turned homosexual, and even being turned into the Incredible Hulk.”
And now Trump plans to make federal policy based on the trucker conspiracy theory, while RFKJr is making federal policy based on anti-vax bullshit.
The New Republic – Malcolm Ferguson / April 28, 2025 Trump Prepares to Sign Order Inspired by MAGA Conspiracy Theory Donald Trump’s next order will hit the trucking industry. “Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society.”
This sounds creepy and we all know what it sounds like, what doesn’t make sense is why conservative Republicans are ok with it.