WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered an ultimatum to North Carolina on Thursday following an audit revealing that over half of the business trucking licenses issued by the state to international drivers have been granted illegally.
“I’m calling on state management to instantly take away these harmful drivers from our roads and clear up their system,” Duffy acknowledged in a press launch asserting the preliminary findings.
If the state fails to take action, Duffy warned that the Federal Motor Provider Security Administration might withhold roughly $50 million in transportation funding for fiscal 12 months 2027.
“As well as, if FMCSA points a last willpower of considerable noncompliance, the company might decertify North Carolina’s CDL program,” Duffy wrote in a letter despatched on Thursday to North Carolina Governor Josh Stein and to Paul Tine, head of the state’s division of motor automobiles (DMV).
“Decertification of North Carolina’s CDL program would prohibit the state from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading CLPs and CDLs till such time as FMCSA determines that DMV is in substantial compliance.”
The state should reply inside 30 days explaining corrective motion it plans to place in place.
BigRig has reached out to state officers for remark.
DOT’s audit discovered that the North Carolina DMV issued non-domiciled CDLs that remained legitimate lengthy after a driver’s lawful U.S. presence had expired. In a single occasion, a driver was issued a license legitimate till 2030 regardless of their work authorization expiring in 2025.
The audit additionally discovered that North Carolina issued business licenses to Mexican residents who have been ineligible below federal regulation, and did not confirm the lawful presence of different CDL candidates fully.
To stop funding and CDL authority sanctions, DOT outlined an inventory of corrective actions:
- Instantly pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs.
- Establish all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to adjust to FMCSA rules.
- Revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs in the event that they adjust to the federal necessities.
- Conduct a complete inner audit to establish all procedural and programming errors, coaching and high quality assurance issues, inadequate insurance policies and practices, and different points which have resulted within the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that didn’t meet Federal guidelines.
The announcement follows a call by FMCSA on Wednesday to withhold $160 million in federal funding from California for failing to appropriate CDL deficiencies discovered after the same audit.
Associated articles:
- States: CDL restrictions to cripple provide strains, elevate prices
- FMCSA will get time-out on CDL crackdown
- Trucking suggested to audit all drivers to restrict CDL legal responsibility
Click on for extra BigRig articles by John Gallagher.
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