Trucking news and briefs for Dec. 31, 2024:
Border Patrol busts tractor-trailer with load of 37 people at border
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Las Cruces Station in New Mexico found 37 undocumented migrants concealed inside a tractor-trailer during a routine inspection at the I-25 checkpoint on Sunday, the agency reported.
Border Patrol agents “reported hearing movement near the rear door of the trailer and observed individuals attempting to crouch behind freight.”
In the end, they found 37 migrants hiding inside the cargo trailer “without proper documentation,” according to the patrol. The migrants hailed from Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador and Ecuador, and were taken into custody and transported for further processing.
“During Fiscal Year 2024 El Paso Sector Agents disrupted 24 tractor-trailer smuggling events with 387 migrants found,” the agency wrote. Since the 2025 fiscal year began in October, the agency reported it’s already “disrupted four significant tractor-trailer smuggling operations, resulting in the apprehension of 97 undocumented migrants.”
Border Patrol stressed the “extreme dangers” of moving migrants in tractor-trailers, and pointed at “transnational criminal organizations” as the frequent offenders.
“Individuals are often crammed into confined spaces without seat belts, adequate ventilation, or climate control, often experiencing dangerously high temperatures in the summer and freezing conditions in the winter,” the agency wrote.
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Said El Paso Sector Chief Anthony Scott Good, “Smuggling organizations exploit migrants with false promises of safe passage and easy entry, but illegal entry into the United States often involves tactics that not only violate U.S. immigration laws but also endanger lives. We remain focused on enforcing immigration laws, holding smugglers accountable, and applying consequences to those who cross the border illegally or attempt to circumvent the legal immigration process.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection welcomes assistance from the community. Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol while remaining anonymous by calling 1-800-635-2509.
[Related: Drug smuggling attempts worth millions busted at border]
Hawaii seeks FMCSA exemption on CDL testing
The FMCSA on Monday announced that the state of Hawaii has applied for an exemption “from specified portions of the commercial driver’s license (CDL) skills test and entry level driver training (EDLT) curriculum requirements.”
Hawaii already has a two-year exemption that allows it to “waive portions of the CDL skills test for CDL applicants who take the skills test on the islands of Lanai and Molokai and grant restricted CDLs to successful applicants,” but that exemption will expire on February 20, 2026.
Now Hawaii seeks a five-year exemption to those provisions as well as another exemption to allow it to waive “certain portions of the ELDT curriculum requirements for providers of behind-the-wheel (BTW) public road training on the islands of Lanai and Molokai.”
Lanai and Molokai are some of the smaller islands in Hawaii, with a combine population of about 10,000 and less than 500 square miles of area.
FMCSA requests public comment on the applicant’s request for an exemption and whether the Agency should withdraw Hawaii’s current exemption that expires on February 20, 2026, and grant a new five-year exemption from both the CDL skills test and the ELDT requirements.
Find the federal register document and your chance to comment here.