A Republican senator is calling on Washington, D.C., to investigate a controversial trucking industry practice as a string of deadly crashes involving illegal alien drivers has rocked Indiana.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) is calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to probe so-called “chameleon carriers.”
Chameleon carriers are trucking companies that repeatedly shut down after enforcement actions and then reopen under new names, registration numbers, or ownership structures.
In a letter to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Derek Barrs, Banks wrote:
“Whatever is going on with Indiana’s trucking clusters, it is killing Hoosiers.
“I cannot stand by and watch as more of my constituents are put in harm’s way by drivers who should never have received a license in the first place,” Banks added.
“I urge you to use every tool at FMCSA’s disposal to investigate potential chameleon carriers and put violators out of service permanently.”
Deadly Crashes Spark Action
Banks’s demand follows another fatal crash in Indiana, allegedly involving an illegal alien truck driver.
Indiana State Police arrested Sukhdeep Singh after authorities say he ran a red light in Hendricks County and struck a pickup truck, killing 64-year-old Terry Schultz at the scene.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Singh, an Indian national who entered the country illegally, is now in custody.
The crash came less than a month after Bekzhan Beishekeev, an illegal migrant truck driver from Kyrgyzstan, allegedly killed four people in another Indiana roadside collision.
Investigators later determined Beishekeev had allegedly been driving for a company identified as a chameleon carrier and was reportedly connected to a broader network of Kyrgyzstani truckers operating in a similar fashion.
“Seven Hoosiers have been killed in six months by illegal alien truck drivers,” Banks wrote.
“This is a national crisis.”
What Are ‘Chameleon Carriers’?
The term refers to trucking companies that evade regulators by cycling through new DOT registration numbers, business names, or ownership arrangements after being shut down for safety violations.
While the branding changes, the trucks, drivers, and operations often remain the same.
Banks says a tip line he launched for truckers has uncovered troubling patterns in Indiana.
According to the senator, nearly 10,000 Indiana-based trucking companies have registered in the DOT database in the past six years.
More than 2,000 carriers are reportedly registered under just two surnames.
“One suburb of Indianapolis, Greenwood, contains 1,000 newly-registered trucking carriers,” Banks wrote.
“Over 300 carriers are active in the University Park neighborhood, which has a population of about 600 people in roughly 250 homes.
“That’s over one carrier for each house.”
Trump Administration Steps In
President Donald Trump’s administration has already taken steps to tighten oversight of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), particularly for non-domiciled drivers.
In September, the DOT restricted non-domiciled CDLs following a federal audit that found what officials described as “catastrophic patterns” of states unlawfully issuing licenses to foreign truck drivers.
In February, the department announced additional screening reforms and closed a loophole that had allowed certain foreign nationals with problematic driving records to obtain trucking licenses.
At a recent press conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs outlined regulatory proposals aimed at strengthening carrier verification systems, a move explicitly targeting chameleon carrier networks.
“When we get on the road, we should expect that we should be safe,” Duffy said.
“And that those who drive those 80,000-pound big rigs, that they are well-trained, they’re well-qualified, and they’re going to be safe.”
The DOT has not yet issued a public response regarding Banks’s letter.
But with fatal crashes mounting and renewed federal scrutiny underway, the senator is pressing for swift and decisive action.
For Banks and the families affected, the issue is no longer abstract.
It is, as he put it, “killing Hoosiers.”
READ MORE – Gavin Newsom Challenges Federal Order on California’s Illegal Alien Trucker Licenses
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