DOT's recent "emergency" rulemaking that seeks to purge nearly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders from trucking, called out a litany of licensing lapses and six states specifically for not following federal regulations.
DOT found California the worst offender, with "egregious" problems that resulted in about a quarter of some 62,000 active non-domiciled CDLs and 5,000 commercial learner's permits issued out of compliance.
"California has 30 days to come into compliance, or FMCSA will withhold federal highway funds -- starting at nearly $160 million in the first year and doubling in year two," DOT said in a press release announcing the non-domiciled issuance rule changes.
While other states didn't get the same deadline or penalties threatened, California wasn't alone in being singled out. "Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington were also identified as states with licensing patterns not consistent with federal regulations," DOT wrote.
Overdrive contacted all six states. In some cases, the states admitted fault and took action. Other states have been more tight-lipped. In every case, however, it seems the states bent to DOT's will and stopped issuing non-domiciled CDLs entirely, in compliance with DOT's concurrent order of a pause in issuance.
Pennsylvania responds to DOT
Pennsylvania didn't immediately start enforcing President Donald Trump's English language proficiency mandate, as the state takes 60 days to adopt any new federal regs, but it did fall in line on suspending non-domiciled CDL issuance.
Pennsylvania issues a lot of non-domiciled CDLs, too.
In May, Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation told Overdrive as part of this investigation of non-domiciled issuance in all 50 states that "out of 389,880 commercial driver license (CDL) holders in Pennsylvania, 11,572 are non-domiciled."
But if Pennsylvania is getting something wrong in issuing those non-domiciled CDLs, it doesn't know what. A PennDOT spokesperson said they're waiting to hear from DOT exactly what inconsistencies it found:
PennDOT is reviewing the final rule and its impacts, but has paused the issuance, renewal, transfer, replacement, and update of non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs during its review of the new federal regulations. The [governor Josh] Shapiro Administration is also reviewing the economic impact the rule will have on Pennsylvania.
Secretary Duffy referenced Pennsylvania, along with several other states, in a September 26 press conference announcing the IFR. There has been no official outreach from USDOT and its FMCSA to PennDOT on this topic. Until that outreach occurs and further communications are received by USDOT or its FMCSA, we cannot fully evaluate “licensing patterns” or other statements made in that press conference.
The most recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data shows Pennsylvania police have put 101 drivers out-of-service for failure to communicate in English.
Colorado reviews non-domiciled CDL issuance
Colorado perviously told Overdrive it does not track how many non-domiciled CDLs it issues, but it has apparently found a way to stop issuing them.
"The Colorado DMV takes seriously our responsibility to ensure all commercial drivers on our roads are licensed lawfully and safely," a Colorado spokesperson said. "Effective Monday, September 29, the Colorado DMV paused all issuance and renewals of term-limited (non-domiciled) Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) and Commercial Learner’s Permits (CLPs) until further notice."
As far as what went wrong or if Colorado agrees it did indeed fail to follow federal regs on CDL issuance, the DMV said it "is conducting a thorough review of processes to ensure compliance with the new federal regulation" and that, for now, it has "no further comment."
South Dakota figured out what went wrong with non-domiciled CDL issuance
South Dakota was quick to shut down non-domiciled CDL issuance and get to the bottom of its licensing problems, the state said. Unlike Pennsylvania, South Dakota appeared to have gotten actionable info from DOT.
“We have corrected the six inconsistencies that were found and have temporarily stopped issuing non-domiciled CDLs until we can verify there were no other errors," a South Dakota Department of Public Safety spokesperson said.
In fact, SD DPS said it will stay on top of compliance: "We are also determining whether additional controls are needed to stay compliant with the new executive order."
South Dakota doesn't issue many non-domiciled CDLs, but the percentage has grown. In 2020 the state issued just 53 non-domiciled CDLs, vs 163 issued in 2024, Overdrive's non-domiciled CDL investigation found.
Texas quiet on CDL issues
Texas, which has issued more than 50,000 non-domiciled CDLs in the last 10 years, also got flagged by DOT as inconsistent with federal rules. Asked what licensing issues occurred and if Texas would indeed stop issuing non-domiciled CDLs, Texas DMV only responded to the latter half of the question.
"At this time, currently issued non-domicile CDLs remain valid and only the issuance of new cards has been suspended," a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson said.
Washington regroups after wrongly issuing Harjinder Singh's CDL
Unlike some of the less-specific allegations DOT made, Washington was called out directly by DOT Secretary Sean Duffy for issuing Harjinder Singh, the truck driver behind the Florida turnpike U-turn crash on August 12, a full-term CDL.
DOT initiated a special investigation into Singh's crash and called out the "despicable failure" of Washington and a few others to enforce the English language proficiency and CDL rules. Washington responded to DOT and Overdrive at length about the issue.
Ultimately, Washington's investigation "concluded that Mr. Singh should have been issued a non-domicile CDL," Washington's Department of Licesnsing (DOL) said. "Upon identifying this issue, DOL instituted mandatory staff training on processing non-domicile CDLs. Additionally, all CDL transactions are reviewed by office supervisors at the end of each day."
Washington issues a good number of non-domiciled CDLs, with about 1,800, or 16% of total issuances, in 2024.
California stonewalling, but backs down on non-domciiled CDLs
DOT Secretary Sean Duffy at a press conference in September showing a California-issued non-domiciled CDL that was issued four years after the expiration of an applicant's work authorization and valid until 2030.
While California appears to have for now completely defied Trump's ELP mandate, it has stopped issuing non-domiciled CDLs.
This falls in line with DOT's September 26 demands that the state:
- Pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs.
- Identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations.
- Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal requirements.
Yet California has consistently disagreed with DOT about its CDL issuance practices. The state's DMV said in August that it followed "all federal and state laws in reviewing and granting Mr. Harjinder Singh his California commercial driver's license," a non-domiciled CDL, including by checking federal databases.
But California DMV did not respond to questions about what it got wrong with CDL issuance after DOT presented images of improperly issued California CDLs.
[Related: Washington pushes to keep federal funding after English enforcement, CDL lapses]
