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DOT and FMCSA announce rulemakings, audits and enforcement to crack down on CDL mills and 'chameleon' carriers
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Summary
Department of Transportation officials announced new rulemakings and enforcement actions aimed at fraudulent commercial driving schools, carriers that evade oversight and noncompliant electronic logging devices, citing recent fatal crashes and nationwide audits as justification.
Department of Transportation officials on the briefing record announced a multi‑front effort to tighten oversight of commercial motor vehicle operations, targeting fraudulent driver training programs, carriers that use multiple identities to evade enforcement and providers of noncompliant electronic logging devices.
Secretary Sean Duffy said the administration has increased penalties for drivers found not proficient in English and has conducted nationwide audits of state CDL issuance. “We have shut down 7,000 of the CDL mills,” Duffy said, and described sting operations with state partners to verify driver licenses and language proficiency during roadside inspections. He characterized the larger problem as both fraudulent schools and third‑party testing failures that allow untrained drivers to obtain commercial driver's licenses.
FMCSA Administrator Derek Bars said the agency will restore principal‑place‑of‑business enforcement, modernize its carrier registration system (referred to in the briefing as the Moda system) and initiate two rulemakings: one to codify enhanced procedures for suspending and revoking registrations and another to ensure new entrant carriers fully understand safety requirements before operating. “We have got to unmask chameleon carriers,” Bars said, describing networks that repeatedly change names and USDOT numbers to evade oversight.
Bars cited recent fatal crashes in Indiana that investigators linked to non‑domiciled CDLs and noncompliant training programs, and said FMCSA investigators placed several carriers out of service after the incidents. He said FMCSA inspected 1,500 driver training schools and found more than 550 cutting corners; the agency plans to end self‑certification for training schools and pursue rulemaking to strengthen entry‑level driver training standards.
Officials also flagged electronic logging device (ELD) fraud: Bars reported FMCSA had removed 42 devices from an approved list and blocked more than 238 ELD applicants during vetting. The agency plans additional rulemaking to strengthen vetting of ELD providers and to eliminate self‑certification practices.
Agency officials framed the actions as relying on partnerships with states and law enforcement, while noting limits on federal authority. Duffy asked states to disqualify drivers who fail to meet federal English proficiency standards, saying revocation authority lies with states. Bars said FMCSA will continue unpredictable enforcement operations with state partners and develop criminal‑interdiction training for state law enforcement to help interdict trafficking, drugs and other criminal activity in commercial motor vehicles.
The announcements came alongside questions from reporters about a separate El Paso airspace closure; Duffy deferred detailed comment until after he briefs Congress. The briefing concluded with officials saying further rulemaking details and enforcement priorities will be released as the agencies move forward.
