DOT threatens to revoke North Carolina’s CDL authority

Audit reveals over 50% of foreign trucker licenses were issued illegally

John Gallagher ·Thursday, January 08, 2026



WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered an ultimatum to North Carolina on Thursday following an audit revealing that over half of the commercial trucking licenses issued by the state to foreign drivers were granted illegally.

“I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system,” Duffy stated in a press release announcing the preliminary findings.

If the state fails to do so, Duffy warned that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may withhold approximately $50 million in transportation funding for fiscal year 2027.

“In addition, if FMCSA issues a final determination of substantial noncompliance, the agency may decertify North Carolina’s CDL program,” Duffy wrote in a letter sent on Thursday to North Carolina Governor Josh Stein and to Paul Tine, head of the state’s division of motor vehicles (DMV).

“Decertification of North Carolina’s CDL program would prohibit the state from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading CLPs and CDLs until such time as FMCSA determines that DMV is in substantial compliance.”

The state must respond within 30 days explaining corrective action it plans to put in place.

FreightWaves has reached out to state officials for comment.

DOT’s audit found that the North Carolina DMV issued non-domiciled CDLs that remained valid long after a driver’s lawful U.S. presence had expired. In one instance, a driver was issued a license valid until 2030 despite their work authorization expiring in 2025.

The audit also found that North Carolina issued commercial licenses to Mexican citizens who were ineligible under federal law, and failed to verify the lawful presence of other CDL applicants entirely.

To prevent funding and CDL authority sanctions, DOT outlined a list of corrective actions: 

  • Immediately 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 federal requirements.
  • Conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices, and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet Federal rules.

The announcement follows a decision by FMCSA on Wednesday to withhold $160 million in federal funding from California for failing to correct CDL deficiencies found after a similar audit.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/do...-cdl-authority