The US Department of Transportation used Veterans Day to put new money and new hiring numbers behind Freedom Haulers, its campaign to move military veterans into trucking careers, at a November 11 celebration on the National Mall in Washington attended by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Derek D. Barrs, trucking leaders and veterans. Duffy said the administration is “doubling down” on the program launched this past summer, pointing to $3.5 million invested in veteran truck-driver training across 21 states and pledges by 12 trucking companies to hire more than 13,000 veterans.
Source: CDL Life, Nov 12, 2026
The figures Duffy outlined, drawn from the Department of Transportation's own Veterans Day summary, were specific: $3.5 million invested by FMCSA to expand truck driver training programs for veterans in 21 states; a commitment by 12 trucking companies, in partnership with the Department of Labor, to hire more than 13,000 veterans; and 400 veterans who have already obtained some of the program's benefits through the GI Bill. The Trucker's November 12 report on the initiative described the same expansion and the 13,000-plus hiring commitments.
Source: The Trucker, Nov 12, 2026
“Today is all about delivering results for the brave men and women who sacrificed so much in defense of our nation,” Duffy said. “In just a few months, our Freedom Haulers campaign has raised awareness and helped hundreds of veterans pursue an exciting career in trucking. Today we are doubling down on that progress by investing millions in training programs across the country to support former servicemembers and their families. To our veterans: today we pause to say thank you.”
Barrs, whose agency regulates the trucking industry, framed the program as both gratitude and supply-chain policy: “There is no better way for FMCSA and the Department to express their gratitude to our nation's veterans than through Freedom Haulers. We're proud to continue supporting the brave men and women who have fought to defend our freedoms as they begin the new mission of keeping our supply chains secure and resilient.” Truckload Carriers Association President Jim Mullen added: “Veterans bring discipline, teamwork, and a deep commitment to safety and service — qualities that make them exceptional professional truck drivers.”
What Freedom Haulers is — and what changed since July
Freedom Haulers is not new this week, and the Veterans Day event was an expansion announcement on an existing program, not a launch. The initiative was first announced on July 30, 2026, at a White House event with President Donald Trump, Duffy and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, as a cross-agency effort led by the Transportation Department with the departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor and War (Defense). Its stated job is to connect transitioning service members with trucking careers by cutting paperwork, bundling existing benefits in one place — the hub at freedomhaulers.dot.gov — and pressing carriers to hire.
What the July package changed on paper matters for any veteran reading this: veterans became eligible for expedited CDLs for up to 24 months after active-duty service, doubling the previous 12-month waiver window; veterans who never drove a heavy truck in service were pointed to CDL training rather than waivers; and access widened to FMCSA's Even Exchange program, which lets a qualified veteran trade a military licence for a civilian CDL. Active-duty members may also now apply and test for a commercial learner's permit or CDL in the state where they are stationed, instead of travelling back to their home state.
The two test shortcuts, explained
Two older federal mechanisms do most of the work. The Military Skills Test Waiver, at 49 CFR 383.77, lets states waive the CDL skills (road) test for service members and veterans with two years of safe experience operating heavy military vehicles; FMCSA says roughly 40,000 service members and veterans have used it, and it is available in every state. The Even Exchange Program covers the other half: in participating states, qualified military drivers are exempt from the CDL knowledge (written) test. The July announcement added seven states to Even Exchange — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland and Wyoming — bringing participation to 34 states. A veteran who qualifies under both can, in effect, exchange a military driving record for a civilian CDL without sitting either test.
For veterans without military driving experience, the money route is training: the GI Bill can cover up to 100 percent of CDL training costs at approved colleges and technical schools for veterans who served at least 36 months, and participants may also qualify for a monthly housing allowance while they train. On the hiring side, carriers have begun publishing their own pledges under the campaign umbrella — Werner Enterprises, for example, has pledged to hire 1,400 veteran and military-spouse drivers in 2027 and says about 15 percent of its roughly 14,000 associates are already military-connected.
The federal hub is freedomhaulers.dot.gov, which gathers the CDL testing waivers, Even Exchange state list, GI Bill and VR&E training funding, SkillBridge and Department of Labor apprenticeship routes in one place. Eligibility turns on service history: the test waivers need documented heavy-vehicle military driving within the window, while funded training is the path for everyone else.
What is solid
- USDOT marked Veterans Day Nov 11 at the National Mall with Duffy and Barrs, citing $3.5M invested in veteran driver training in 21 states, 12 companies pledging 13,000+ veteran hires with the Labor Department, and 400 veterans using GI Bill benefits, per CDL Life and The Trucker, Nov 12.
- Freedom Haulers was launched July 30, 2026; the expedited-CDL window doubled from 12 to 24 months after service, and Even Exchange grew to 34 states, per ATA and FreightWaves reporting on the launch.
What is only claimed
- Industry analysts at FreightWaves noted at launch that much of the 'express lane' already existed — the skills-test waiver, Even Exchange and GI Bill training funding all predate Freedom Haulers — so how much of the hiring is new, versus existing programs bundled and promoted, is disputed.
- The 13,000 figure is a set of hiring commitments by 12 companies, not completed hires; the administration has not published a hire-by-hire count.
Why it matters to Punjabi truckers and veterans
Trucking is one of the largest employers of Punjabi and South Asian immigrants in North America, and the same highways carry a smaller but real number of Punjabi veterans of the US armed forces — and far more families in which one generation drove trucks and the next is choosing between the military, college and the cab. A federal push that pays for CDL training, waives tests for military drivers and lines up carrier hiring pledges lands directly in that world: it competes for the same new-driver pool, it can raise the value of a clean military driving record, and the state-by-state Even Exchange list decides whether a veteran in Fresno, Houston or Indianapolis can skip the written test or must sit it.
What happens next
The administration says the training money will flow through FMCSA grant programs to expand veteran driver training in the 21 states, and the 12 companies' 13,000-hire commitments will be tracked against actual hiring in partnership with the Labor Department. Veterans inside the 24-month post-service window gain the most from acting quickly, since the expedited-CDL eligibility runs from separation. Awaaz Punjab will watch for the grant awards and the first hiring reports — and for whether the pledged numbers turn into paycheques.