FMCSA May Withhold Millions From 4 States Over CDL Flaws
Texas, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington Face Funding Risks
Key Takeaways:
- Texas was the subject of the longest letter — 20 pages.
- The letters outlined five general areas of non-compliance with federal standards.
- Each letter threatened to withhold federal-aid highway funds and decertify their CDL programs if corrective actions weren't taken.
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Four states were notified that their commercial driver licenses issued to foreigners failed to meet federal law and they could lose millions in federal grants.
Texas, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington were sent lengthy letters Oct. 23 by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration detailing preliminary determinations of noncompliance in failing to follow federal regulations.
Each letter threatened to withhold specific amounts of federal-aid highway funds and decertify their CDL programs for failing to complete corrective actions.
Consistent problems in the states’ issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver licenses and learner’s permits were:
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- Systemic policy, procedural and programming errors
- Granting non-domiciled CDLs to ineligible drivers
- Issuing regular CDLs for U.S. citizens instead of non-domiciled ones for foreigners
- Validating non-domiciled licenses and permits for dates up to four years beyond a foreign driver’s expiration date of legal U.S. residence
- Providing citizens of Canada and Mexico with non-domiciled licenses and permits when residents of those nations must be issued CDLs and commercial learner’s permits from their home countriesĚý
Texas
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Texas was the subject of the longest letter — 20 pages — to Gov. Greg Abbott and Col. Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
FMCSA auditors in August found a 49% failure rate in federal regulatory compliance in 123 non-domiciled CDLs issued from June 2024 through last August. Texas has 9,600 drivers with current non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs.
The notice identified detailed problems in issuing CDLs to 60 drivers from 12 countries. Most of the drivers were from El Salvador, Cuba, Honduras and Ukraine, while others came from Afghanistan, Guatemala, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.
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FMCSA’s letter also referred to its investigation of a with five fatalities and “a refugee” driver traveling north on Interstate 35 in Austin on March 14. The agency said Texas DPS “issued a regular CDL when the driver was not eligible.” A Texas grand jury indicted Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, who was charged with five counts of manslaughter. He is being prosecuted for his alleged role in driving a tractor-trailer that reportedly failed to slow down, hitting stopped vehicles at a high rate of speed and killing five people in an accident involving 18 vehicles and 36 occupants.
The state was given eight corrective actions and must respond to FMCSA to avoid the agency issuing “a final determination of substantial noncompliance” that could result in Texas losing up to $182.5 million in federal funds in fiscal 2027. Repeated noncompliance can result in FMCSA keeping $365 million from Texas in fiscal 2028.
South Dakota
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Gov. Larry Rhoden and Robert Perry, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, also were told to address problems. FMCSA’s sample audit in July of 51 of the state’s 185 non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs revealed a 12% failure rate in federal compliance.
One problem unique to South Dakota stemmed from its issuing temporary paper non-domiciled credentials to foreign truckers “as a courtesy to applicants in a variety of situations,” Elison stated. FMCSA determined this practice increases the likelihood DPS will issue the license or permit to drivers lacking legal authority to live in the U.S. Also, paper credentials all have an automatic one-year validity that could cause DPS to issue commercial driving privileges longer than drivers can legally remain in the country.
South Dakota was given a series of corrective actions such as revoking current noncompliant non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs and identifying all valid temporary paper credentials to ensure these adhere to requirements. The state’s failure to resolve the irregularities can result in forfeiting $13.2 million in fiscal 2027 federal grants.
Colorado
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FMCSA sent Colorado an 11-page letter detailing noncompliance to Gov. Jared Polis and Heidi Humphreys, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue, which oversees the Division of Motor Vehicles. The state was told to take immediate corrective actions to avoid losing $24.5 million in fiscal 2027 federal-aid highway funds and having Colorado’s program decertified. Further noncompliance could result in losing $49 million in fiscal 2028 federal grants.
In August, federal auditors found irregularities in 22% of nearly 100 random valid Colorado-issued non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs from 1,848 total such licenses and permits.
Washington
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Gov. Bob Ferguson and Marcus Glasper, director of the Washington State Department of Licensing, also received a notice letter.
FMCSA auditors in June found 10% of a sample of the state’s 5,000 valid non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs failed to comply with federal regulations and 685 non-domiciled drivers were erroneously issued a CLP or CDL for U.S. citizens. Drivers with “erroneously issued” regular licenses came from Afghanistan, Mexico, the Marshall Islands and Ukraine.
“In most of the 685 transactions, WADOL personnel accepted and used the wrong documentation as evidence that the driver was a lawful permanent resident eligible for a regular CLP or CDL,” Elison stated.
Also, FMCSA noted it “became aware of another non-domiciled driver to whom WADOL erroneously issued a regular CLP and CDL” while investigating a highly publicized fatal crash Aug. 12 in Florida involving a truck driver from India.
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The letter alluded to ongoing court actions against Harjinder Singh, an immigrant driving on a limited-term/non-domiciled CDL issued in California. Singh is accused of making an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike that caused a minivan to collide with his truck, killing three minivan passengers. Singh, who reportedly entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018, has pleaded not guilty in Florida to three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter. Before Singh obtained a CDL in California, FMCSA and Washington officials confirmed he received both a CLP and a CDL from Washington.
A Washington Department of Licensing spokesperson told Transport Topics that Singh failed his CDL knowledge test 10 times from March 10, 2023, before passing May 12, 2023, at a state driver’s licensing office.
“There are no state or federal limitations on the number of times a person can take the knowledge test. For context, the knowledge test must be passed to get a commercial learner permit that allows a person to attend a commercial driving school. Since we are involved in litigation, we will not comment further,” the spokesperson said.
Washington will complete more than a dozen corrective actions, nearly all of them to be done immediately. Failure to resolve deficiencies could result in losing $31.3 million in fiscal 2027 federal grants. A delay could result in FMCSA withholding $62.7 million in fiscal 2028 grants.
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