WASHINGTON, D.C. (WOWO) Senator Jim Banks, R-Ind., announced the launch of the TruckSafe Tipline, a reporting tool for truckers and industry workers to raise concerns about carriers employing drivers who are not legally in the United States, are not authorized to drive, or cannot meet required English-language safety standards.
Reports submitted to the Tipline will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Office of Inspector General, according to a statement from Banks. The information is intended to protect roadway safety and help ensure compliance with federal trucking regulations.
“Indiana is the Crossroads of America and Hoosiers are getting killed because drivers who shouldn’t be here in the first place are behind the wheel,” Banks said. “If you’re driving a truck on our roads, you need to be legal, you need to be able to read traffic signs, and you need to follow the law. The TruckSafe Tipline gives people on the ground a way to speak up when they see carriers cutting corners and putting lives at risk.”
The announcement follows multiple fatal accidents in Indiana involving drivers who were not legally in the U.S. In December 2023, a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the U.S. illegally killed four men in Jay County after swerving into oncoming traffic. Last November, a Georgian national who entered illegally in 2022 caused a crash that killed Indiana National Guardsman Terry Frye. In October 2025, an illegal driver from Serbia and Montenegro caused a multi-car accident in Portage, Indiana, resulting in one death.
Over the weekend, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said AJ Partners, the carrier involved in the Jay County crash, and other related companies are under investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Duffy described the carriers as potential “chameleon carriers,” companies that swap names and DOT numbers to avoid enforcement.
The TruckSafe Tipline can be accessed online, providing a method for industry workers and the public to report unsafe practices and support roadway safety.
1 comment
Attention, I’d like to bring to your attention of dishonest DOT Doctor’s and BAT technicians also letting drivers slip through the cracks. You can thank the new FMCSA program for that. The FMCSA is like the enemy working from with in the U.S Government to destroy the trunking industry as we know it.