The U.S. Department of Transportation has responded forcefully to Overdrive reporting that “sham” CDL schools shut down by a new task force led by the White House were getting reinstated and placed back on the Training Provider Registry.
DOT objected mainly to the tone of Overdrive‘s reporting but did dispute one material fact.
Overdrive‘s report stated CDL schools that graduated drivers who went on to get ELP violations were successfully contesting the shutdowns and getting reinstated.
The report also stated that the task force used AI to connect ELP violators with their CDL schools, that those shut-down schools could rejoin the TPR just by self-certifying their compliance, and that CDL schools advertising two-hour theory courses remained in operation.
DOT disputed the part about AI.
“No AI was used to identify the training providers that were issued the emergency removal,” a DOT spokesperson said.
DOT called Overdrive‘s reporting “built on a factually baseless premise that grossly minimizes the deadly consequences of sham CDL schools.”
Overdrive has long reported on bad CDL schools and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s cleanup of the Training Provider Registry, which thus far has included many inactive schools.
DOT said the CDL schools were shut down for purposefully disregarding rules, but did not deny that several of those same schools have since been reinstated.
“FMCSA shut down these 110 training providers for one reason: the data demonstrated a willful, dangerous disregard for federal regulations that actively threatened public safety,” DOT’s spokesperson said. “These operations churned out unqualified drivers, collectively accounting for over 5,000 [English language proficiency] violations since June 2025 alone. If that wasn’t enough, these drivers have been linked to numerous fatal crashes.”
According to federal data analyzed by Overdrive‘s Fusable sister data company RigDig, inspectors have notched up 38,189 ELP violations from July 2025 through September 2026.
In the two Emergency Shutdown notification letters Overdrive saw, FMCSA listed deadly crashes caused by non-English speaking drivers. FMCSA in those letters did not assert that the schools had graduated drivers who go on to have fatal accidents.
Though roadside violations are an allegation, not a conviction, and out-of-service orders are often not strictly enforced (with state inspectors leaving many drivers unsupervised to continue driving), DOT equated schools graduating drivers who later fail ELP tests to non-compliant schools.
“Let us be clear: under FMCSA’s regulations, a driver who fails to meet the ELP standard is unqualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle,” DOT said. “Any school that passes an unqualified driver is violating the law and endangering the public.”
In FMCSA’s letters to schools that got shut down, FMCSA admitted schools can teach CDL courses in languages other than English. And while the shutdowns blocked those schools from teaching the Entry Level Driver Training curriculum, they didn’t block some of those same providers from providing actual CDL knowledge/skills testing.
The CDL school crackdown is “part of a massive, overdue effort to hold CDL mills accountable,” DOT said. “After years of unchecked non-compliance, FMCSA has removed nearly 10,000 training locations from the Training Provider Registry since January 2025.”
CDL school trade associations have long called on FMCSA to fix the TPR after years passed with almost no removals, despite repeated complaints.
Those same trade associations have applauded FMCSA’s efforts on the TPR, but the recent task force actions have included notices of proposed removals for their own members.
[Related: FMCSA seeks emergency action to block ‘chameleon’ CDL schools]
Finally, DOT said that training providers had to correct their violations to get reinstated. “Providers seeking reinstatement may only do so by verifiably correcting their violations and submitting documented proof under 49 CFR Part 380.”
Eli Soler Negrin’s Soler & Soler CDL School in Miami, Florida, a school that was shut down for having graduated more than 10 drivers who would go on to get ELP violations, has since been reinstated. Negrin said the school cleared the documented-proof bar in part by submitting YouTube videos and TikToks of their instructors giving English instruction to students.
At least one other school has chosen to take FMCSA to federal court rather than try the administrative review.
Still, the DOT spokesperson indicated the department wouldn’t back down.
“We make no apologies for enforcing the law and protecting lives on America’s roadways,” DOT concluded.
Read Overdrive‘s original story here.
