FORT WAYNE, IND. (WOWO) On the highways that crisscross Indiana — often called the “Crossroads of America” — commercial truck traffic is a constant presence. In recent months, however, several fatal crashes involving semis have prompted renewed scrutiny over commercial driver qualifications and enforcement standards. Appearing on Fort Wayne’s Morning News with Kayla Blakeslee on WOWO, U.S. Senator Jim Banks announced the launch of what he calls the “Truck Safe Tip Line,” a reporting system designed to identify carriers that may be using unqualified or unauthorized drivers. When asked what prompted the initiative, Banks responded plainly: “Well, Kayla, it keeps happening.” He pointed first to a January crash in Jay County that killed four members of the Amish community. According to investigators, the driver of the semi involved had entered the country illegally and later received a commercial driver’s license (CDL). “The four Amish who were killed in Jay County… killed by an illegal who was driving a semi-truck that ran into them and killed them,” Banks said. “What we know now is that he came into the country illegally over the southern border. He was paroled… Even though he was an illegal in our country, he was given a CDL, a trucking license by the state of Pennsylvania.” Banks cited additional recent incidents across Indiana, including a fatal crash in Bluffton, a multi-vehicle crash in Portage, and an accident that killed an Indiana National Guardsman during a training exercise. Referring to that case, he said, “Here was a case where we had an Indiana National Guardsman who was driving a Humvee on an Indiana highway… and he was killed by an illegal from the country of Georgia… The Humvee went off the side of the road and rolled over and killed the driver, who was very young, recently married with a young kid.” “These are cases just in the last few months,” Banks said. “At the end of the day, I blame a lot of people for it.” Banks placed responsibility on federal immigration policies as well as on certain states that issue CDLs to undocumented immigrants. “I blame Biden and his administration for letting them into our country,” he said. “But I also blame these Democrat governors… Pennsylvania, New York, and California are giving CDL licenses to illegals who can’t even speak English. They can’t read the traffic signs. They don’t know our driving customs, and they’re behind the wheel of semi-trucks. It’s dangerous. It’s deadly.” He also argued that Indiana’s heavy interstate traffic makes it particularly affected. “We’re the crossroads of America. We have highways going in every direction. That’s why I think it keeps happening in Indiana.” Beyond immigration enforcement, Banks said small, family-owned trucking companies have raised concerns with his office about competition from what he described as noncompliant carriers. “These small family-owned trucking companies in Indiana keep reaching out to me,” he said. “They’re saying, ‘Senator, you’re right. We see it on the roads all the time.’” He pointed to so-called “chameleon carriers,” companies that allegedly evade enforcement by changing names or Department of Transportation numbers. “It’s hard for us to compete with them because they’re taking business away from us because they don’t have to pay their drivers as much because they’re cheap, illegal labor,” Banks said. “So enough is enough. Let’s go after it.” The Truck Safe Tip Line, now live on Banks’ Senate website, allows industry workers and others to submit information about carriers or drivers they believe may be operating unlawfully. Blakeslee asked how the process works: “Let’s say I go to your website, I submit a tip. What happens after that?” “Give us as much information as you can, and then my office will take all of that information to the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, and then they will act on it,” Banks responded. He added that his office has coordinated with the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General: “They know we’re doing it. They appreciate it that we’re sounding the alarm and trying to gather this information.” Banks described the broader objective as preventing further fatal crashes. “The end game here, Kayla, is that we don’t see another story like the one that we just saw in Jay County,” he said. “It should never happen again.” The debate over commercial driver licensing, immigration policy, and enforcement authority is likely to continue. For now, Banks is urging those in the trucking industry to use the reporting tool and submit information his office can forward to federal investigators. The post WOWO EXCLUSIVE – Banks Draws the Line on Unsafe Trucking with Kayla appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less