American truckers are sounding the alarm as waves of low-wage Mexican drivers use B-1 visitor visas to illegally undercut them in the freight market — and federal officials are finally being pressed to act.
A new FreightWaves investigation, published May 8, outlines how Mexican drivers cross the border with legitimate cargo under NAFTA rules but then illegally stay to haul domestic freight. This practice, known as “cabotage,” is explicitly banned, yet enforcement has been virtually nonexistent.
One former trucking company owner who shut down operations in December said, “There was no reason to try and keep up with the B-1 drivers nonsense — no one really understands what’s happened, and there’s too many [business] interests in between.”
“I can’t compete with the B-1s,” another operator added. “They take less pay, and you lose work because they can get the work. I can’t afford to drop down on my rates. Nobody will be making money, right?”
While the B-1 visa is supposed to allow only international cargo delivery, many Mexican truckers stay and grab U.S. contracts. Brokers and businesses looking to cut costs are more than happy to oblige, even as American drivers are pushed out of the market.
The problem is not limited to the southern border. In Maine, Canadian workers are using H-2A visas — meant for farm labor — to do trucking jobs. And in Ohio and Kentucky, recent accidents involving poorly trained foreign drivers have drawn national scrutiny.
In Kentucky, one driver watching YouTube on a tablet while driving a semi killed a tow truck operator. He was indicted for murder after fleeing the state. In Ohio, another foreign trucker drove his rig onto a golf course and caused thousands in damages, claiming he was lost.
The American Trucking Association has warned the Department of Transportation that the situation is out of control. In an April letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, ATA wrote, “Not only is cabotage illegal, but it can also have significant economic and labor impacts on law-abiding motor carriers.”
The solution? Enforcement. Truckers say that checking driver credentials at weigh stations along I-35 would be a good start. But federal agents and state troopers are stretched thin, often focused on border security instead of cracking down on visa fraud within the freight industry.
President Trump and Secretary Duffy are now pushing for reforms. Trump has directed the DOT to disqualify truckers who can’t speak and write English and is calling for tighter visa enforcement. The goal is to restore fair competition and stop the lawlessness that’s gutting the American freight industry.
Critics argue that companies are exploiting foreign labor to avoid hiring U.S. drivers at decent wages. But the result has been clear: lost jobs, crumbling safety standards, and a trucking industry increasingly dependent on legal loopholes and foreign workers.
As one fuel hauler from South Texas put it: “You have 1,000 state troopers securing the border instead of actually cracking down on things that really matter — like this.”
For now, the roads are still clogged with trucks driven by B-1 visa holders who aren’t supposed to be hauling domestic freight. But with federal pressure mounting, that may soon change.