Overview

• Effective immediately, states must pause issuing non‑domiciled commercial driver’s licenses until they meet new federal compliance and auditing requirements.
• Applicants must hold an employment‑based visa and pass a SAVE immigration‑status check, with licenses expiring at one year or upon visa expiration; current license holders are not retroactively affected.
• An FMCSA audit found widespread noncompliance, including roughly one‑quarter of reviewed California licenses issued improperly and examples of licenses extending past lawful presence; Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington were also flagged.
• California has 30 days to audit and fix its program or risk about $160 million in withheld highway funds in the first year, with potential penalties increasing in a second year.
• Major trucking groups including the American Trucking Associations and OOIDA backed the crackdown, while some carriers warned tighter rules and earlier visa pauses could worsen driver shortages even as DOT notes the affected group is a small share of all CDL holders.