“Prosecute the employers” — ABSOLUTELY! They all know they are hiring illegal drivers.
I can’t see some of the larger trucking companies taking the RISK of hiring drivers that are inexperienced.
Consider this.
You are putting an inexperienced driver in a $150k+ TRACTOR.
Pulling a trailer worth $75K+ with some companies product on or in the trailer worth tens of thousands of dollars.
That trailer/truck combination can exceed 80m pounds in some states like Montana/Idaho(maxis) and Michigan(btrains).
Those rigs then are going down the highway at 75+ Mph.
As an owner of a trucking company do you want to take that risk/liability?