Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will invest $217 million toward "restoring integrity to the trucking industry by rooting out bad actors, expanding workforce opportunities for Americans, and improving roadway safety for families.”
FMCSA’s grants will fund:
- States modernizing CDL systems “to ensure every person behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck is properly qualified, trained, and licensed.”
- Safety enforcement training for law enforcement officers.
- Career training for current and former members of the U.S. military to get into trucking.
A DOT press release announcing the funding used the “restoring integrity” language much like FMCSA’s February Final Rule banning non-domiciled CDLs.
That rulemaking effort followed President Donald Trump’s April 2025 executive order mandating English language proficiency for all drivers and calling for an audit of CDL issuance across the entire country.
Over the course of the next year, DOT steadily exposed what it called “systemic” errors in more than two dozen states’ licensing practices, leading to tens of thousands of wrongly issued CDLs. Additionally, FMCSA detailed how “self-certification” has led to the proliferation of "CDL mills" and substandard driver training, likewise fraudulent electronic logging device vendors.
The new $217M worth in grant funding announced by FMCSA seems to have those issues in mind, in part. The grant programs outlined in the Secretary's press release fall into the following four categories -- each link goes to a new grant-opportunity posting for fiscal-year 2026 funding, with a June 17 deadline for applications:
- High Priority (HP) - Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Grant Program to fund projects that improve CMV safety programs that target unsafe driving in areas identified as high-risk crash corridors, promote the safe and secure movement of hazmat, improve the safe transportation of goods and passengers in foreign commerce, demonstrate new technologies to improve CMV safety, support participation in the Performance Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program, support safety data improvement projects, and increase public awareness of and education about CMV safety.
- High Priority (HP) - Innovative Technology Development (ITD) Grant Program to fund projects that support “intelligent transportation information networks” and help connect federal motor carrier safety systems with state CMV systems.
- Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation Grant Program (CDLPI), to help fund states working to improve their national CDL program performance, modernize their systems, strengthen compliance with federal requirements, and enhance the integrity of the licensing process.
- Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) Grant Program. This grant funds industry partners that provide CMV operator training to current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as other qualified individuals seeking careers in the trucking and transportation industries.
The funding push seems tailored toward boosting tech adoption and lining up state and federal CDL and safety enforcement systems, both areas of improvement invoked by officials time and again over the last year.
For example, Secretary Duffy expressed some shock when detailing how states aren’t always aware of or enforcing out-of-service orders issued in other states.
While some of the funding goes to training efforts, DOT is making it clear that it prefers veterans, and seeks to limit CDL eligibility almost entirely to U.S. citizens. Duffy has long been critical of the previous presidential administration’s immigration policies and dismissive of the “driver shortage” narrative.
“The Trump Administration has the backs of American truckers," Duffy said. "While they work hard to keep our shelves stocked and our businesses moving, USDOT is working to restore safety and integrity to their industry. We’re also investing in the next generation of truckers with modern systems that help root out the bad actors that have plagued the industry for years.”
FMCSA Administrator Barrs hoped the grants would align the public, private, and nonprofit elements of CMV safety behind a common goal.
“These grant programs reflect FMCSA’s commitment to advancing safety while supporting the continued growth of the commercial motor vehicle industry,” said Barrs. “By partnering with states, training providers, law enforcement, and nonprofit organizations, we are helping build a stronger transportation workforce, improving safety outcomes, and delivering on the Administration’s mission to move freight more safely and efficiently across the country.”
The deadline for grant applications is 11:59 pm ET on June 17, 2026.
More information about funding amounts, applicant eligibility, eligible activities, and requirements is available on FMCSA’s website and at Grants.gov.
