Lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to crack down on “Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) mills” that endanger public safety by putting poorly-trained truck drivers on U.S. roadways.
In an October 28, 2025 letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Andy Barr (Kentucky-06) asked for a federal investigation into trucking schools, or CDL mills, that “exploit loopholes that churn out minimally trained drivers.”
From the letter:
“We write to urge the Department of Transportation to investigate the growing number of CDL “mills”. CDL mills are substandard training programs that offer quick credentials and recent incidents and reports indicate these mills are prioritizing volume over proper safety and training requirements.
These CDL mills have exploited loopholes in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) regulations to churn out minimally trained drivers with little regard for real-world proficiency. These operations offer rushed, test-focused courses with little to no hands-on experience, leaving new entrants ill-equipped to handle the real world demands of interstate trucking. This probe should rigorously assess whether CDL training programs are upholding ELDT standards, particularly with behind-the-wheel training, pre-trip inspections, and on-road proficiency.“
Cotton and Barr go on to suggest that USDOT use its authority to “make further changes like mandatory training hours behind the wheel for CDLs.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) recently made a similar call on lawmakers to strengthen ELDT standards in an effort to improve highway safety. The group specifically asked for the introduction of rules requiring 30 hours of mandatory behind-the-wheel training for new drivers.
The requested crackdown on CDL mills builds on a bill called the Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act of 2025 that was introduced earlier this month and sponsored by Cotton and Barr.
The bill was written in response to a triple fatality crash that occurred in August 2025 on the Florida Turnpike involving truck driver Harjinder Singh. If passed, the bill would require all CDL testing to be conducted in the English language only, and it would allow the Secretary of Transportation to suspend or revoke a state’s authority to issue non-domiciled CDLs if found non-compliant with federal standards