Overdrive on Tuesday was recognized as a finalist for news coverage in 2025 at the annual Jesse H. Neal Awards, honoring excellence in business-to-business journalism.
Overdrive’s extensive coverage in 2025 of non-domiciled CDLs and the impacts of the Trump administration’s immigration policies on trucking earned a finalist nod in the Best News Coverage category. Overdrive was one of four finalists in the category.
Even before President Trump’s executive order required a review of state issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to foreign citizens, Overdrive editors were researching their prevalence following reports from readers of an influx of CDL holders from other countries, many without traditional employment-based work visas but rather asylum seekers in limbo, waiting for immigration courts to adjudicate their cases.
The coverage continued throughout the year, and is still ongoing this year, as the U.S. Department of Transportation began reviewing states’ non-domiciled CDL issuance practices, issued an emergency final rule restricting which visa classifications were eligible for non-domiciled CDLs -- and the resulting legal challenges -- and much more.
Overdrive was also the first to release a near-comprehensive non-domiciled CDL accounting following extensive research conducted in the Spring and early Summer. The 20-page report included data from all 50 states regarding their non-domiciled CDL issuance practices, including volume where available, going back a decade.
After a major lawsuit emerged, a federal court blocked the late-September emergency rule, and this special survey report showed the nuance of opinion for/against the rule, including those directly impacted.
While the Neal Awards category recognized coverage in 2025, Overdrive has continued to closely monitor the non-domiciled CDL situation in 2026, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s final rule in February, the Dalilah’s Law legislation that took center stage during Trump’s State of the Union address, and other developments.
