American truckers are reporting higher pay per mile as President Donald Trump’s enforcement policies push many illegal migrant drivers off U.S. highways, Breitbart reports. One trucker, for instance, shared that a route from Chicago to Fargo, which used to pay $1,200, now pays $1,800.
The departure of these foreign drivers benefits American truckers, especially those working in the “spot market,” where loads are arranged for online orders and unique shipments. During President Biden’s administration, per-mile rates in this market plummeted due to an influx of illegal drivers from countries like India, Serbia, and Croatia. However, current federal enforcement—including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s crackdown on safety regulations—has created what industry insiders are calling a “Compliance Crunch,” allowing U.S. truckers to earn higher rates. According to Secretary Duffy, the previous policy of allowing cheap labor significantly impacted American truckers.
Reports indicate that immigration agents have recently intensified roadside enforcement in several states, resulting in the arrest of approximately fifteen Serbian truck drivers. Authorities are also confiscating commercial drivers’ licenses from those who cannot prove legal entry into the country. These actions have made many employers and insurers more cautious, leading to the removal of higher-risk, illegal drivers from the road.
According to Breitbart, “the sudden economic change is driven by Trump’s crackdown on the huge population of wage-cutting illegal-migrant drivers welcomed by Biden’s deputies. Many migrant drivers in many states are being forced off the road because executives are nervous, lawyers are suddenly eager to sue, and insurance companies are raising rates for companies that have not fired their high-risk illegal drivers.”
Industry analysts say these wage gains remain a small fraction of total transportation costs and are unlikely to cause inflation. However, according to Breitbart, “if wage gains spread to the larger market of planned deliveries, the retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart, are expected to claim that drivers’ wage gains create an inflation threat to the nation’s currency. But the increased costs will likely be offset by American truckers’ ability to cut the heavy costs imposed by the growing number of trucking accidents, delays, fraud, crimes, deaths, and cargo thefts enabled by foreign operators in the United States.”
Bill Skinner, a trucking expert, highlighted on social media that almost one-third of U.S. freight is hauled by non-citizen drivers—a situation he called not just a safety concern but also a national security risk.
