As USDOT Deploys Largest Audit Effort in CDL Training History, CVTA Members Set the Benchmark for High Quality Training

Dec. 11th, 2025

Washington, D.C. The Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) today thanks U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Derek Barrs for their decisive action in launching the most extensive CDL training enforcement initiative in federal history.

Over the week of Dec. 8th, USDOT deployed hundreds of FMCSA investigators to conduct more than a thousand random, boots-on-the-ground audits of training providers across the country. This sweeping action has strengthened the integrity of commercial driver education and reaffirmed the critical role high-quality training plays in protecting the motoring public. CVTA members welcomed the scrutiny of these random audits and passed with flying colors, demonstrating the association’s longstanding commitment to rigorous standards and safety excellence. Conversely, reports indicate that this surprise enforcement blitz caused many CDL mills to exit the industry altogether rather than risk the results of FMCSA inspection.

CVTA Chairman, Jeff Burkhardt

CVTA also highlighted the close alignment between the federal crackdown and the association’s multi-year effort to strengthen Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) enforcement nationwide. “CVTA has been the tip of the spear in identifying noncompliant providers and pushing for meaningful federal oversight,” said CVTA Chairman Jeff Burkhardt. “Our ELDT Task Force has worked tirelessly to clean up this industry and help usher in a new era of safer roadways and greater opportunity in trucking. We commend Secretary Duffy and Administrator Barrs for transforming these long-standing concerns into real enforcement that protects the public and supports reputable schools.”

This progress follows a recent USDOT initiative to address widespread noncompliance within the federal Training Provider Registry (TPR). The registry was originally created to provide quality assurance by requiring training programs to upload curriculum documents and necessary credentials in order to be listed. That safeguard was later eliminated in favor of a broad self-certification process that allowed bad actors to enter the system in large numbers. Working in partnership with CVTA’s ELDT Task Force, federal leadership in the Trump Administration began removing noncompliant programs in mid-November. More than 3,000 providers have now been removed from the TPR, and reports indicate that many additional organizations chose to withdraw themselves from the registry after receiving audit notifications from FMCSA.

CVTA noted that these enforcement gains arrive at a critical moment for the freight economy, which has experienced significant turbulence over the past several years. Hundreds of thousands of unqualified or improperly licensed drivers have entered the marketplace, harming freight rates and contributing to instability because they are not trained for quality, long-term trucking careers. At the same time, revelations regarding nondomicile CDL issuance failures, English Language Proficiency breakdowns, and subsequent high-profile crashes have further unsettled the industry.

CVTA Executive Director, Andrew Poliakoff

Increased enforcement may restore a level of predictability that has been missing. “What do markets love? Certainty,” said CVTA Executive Director Andrew Poliakoff. “While it may take some time to fully rid the marketplace of CDL mills, the result will be greater certainty around the hiring of drivers who have been trained by reputable schools. That effect may be exactly what the market is looking for. As safety around certainty goes up, opportunity will rise along with it.”