Arkansas Urged to Tighten Control on Non-Domiciled CDL: Reject Licenses, Fine Drivers, and Impound Vehicles

The American Truckers United (ATU), based in Arkansas, is urging state authorities to implement stricter measures against so-called non-domiciled Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDL)—documents issued to drivers without a permanent residence in the country. According to local TV station KATV, ATU claims that the previously enacted Act 604 is insufficient: the organization proposes that Arkansas stop recognizing any non-domiciled CDL within its territory, including those formally issued by other states under current procedures.

Act 604, promoted by Republican R.J. Hawk, introduced a set of requirements for CDL issuance and use in Arkansas, including documentation of work rights and English language proficiency. In the KATV report, the law is described as a measure that effectively closes the opportunity for non-domiciled CDL holders to work in the state, as it mandates proof of legal work rights, a valid visa, and compliance with English Language Proficiency requirements.

However, ATU insists that even with Act 604, drivers who, according to activists, do not undergo proper checks continue to be identified in the state. ATU co-founder Shannon Everett, in an interview with KATV, spoke of cases where drivers allegedly lack necessary "traces" in American systems—from driving history to training confirmations and drug & alcohol testing oversight. He specifically pointed out the use of B-1 visas, which, according to ATU, are often found among Mexican drivers working routes through Arkansas.

ATU's key request now is not only to "close the entry" at the document issuance level within Arkansas but also to "close recognition" of documents issued in other jurisdictions. The publication CDL Life presents ATU's position: the state, in their view, should stop recognizing any non-domiciled CDL regardless of whether they are "legally" issued in another state. In this context, the group also discusses stricter enforcement measures: fines for drivers working with such documents and impounding vehicles.

Hawk himself insists in comments to KATV that Act 604 has already had a measurable effect in terms of control. He stated that since the law came into effect (the report refers to the period "since August"), 1,251 drivers have been taken out of service for failing English language requirements, and 386 arrests have been made for CDL fraud. These figures are cited in the material with reference to the legislator himself; there is no independent detailing of which specific divisions kept records and by what criteria violations were recorded.

Meanwhile, Hawk publicly distanced himself from some of ATU's proposals, outlining the limits of the state's authority. In an interview with KATV, he stated that some of the initiatives the group is pursuing run into federal regulation and international trade frameworks. As an argument, he mentioned NAFTA, explaining that certain steps regarding foreign drivers and documents cannot be resolved solely at the state level. Hawk also referred to the position of the state's Attorney General and the head of the relevant transportation department (specific names are not mentioned in the report), who, according to him, pointed to the need for federal-level changes for some of the issues.

The federal context is indeed changing. In 2026, the FMCSA approved final clarifications on the non-domiciled CDL regime. In the agency's official Q&A—Non-Domiciled CDL 2026 Final Rule FAQs—it discusses restoring the "integrity" of the issuance process and banning certain practices that allowed for the issuance of licenses and permits on a temporary or simplified basis. The FMCSA document describes what actions states are allowed and not allowed to take in issuing non-domiciled CLP/CDL, with an emphasis on unified federal qualification and testing requirements.

For Arkansas, this federal layer is important primarily because the dispute raised by ATU concerns not only local requirements during road checks but also interstate recognition of documents. The request to "not recognize" non-domiciled CDL issued by other states essentially affects the structure where driver's documents are valid outside the issuing state if they are issued according to the rules. It is this collision—between the political expectation to "close loopholes" and the legal obligation to recognize licenses issued in other jurisdictions—that ATU is trying to bring into practical terms at the Arkansas level, according to materials from KATV and CDL Life.

A separate line in ATU's statements is the topic of B-1 visas. According to the organization, the practical use of such visas in conjunction with work on commercial transport creates a gray area for driver admission. The KATV report states that ATU is urging the state to stop accepting B-1 as sufficient grounds for work in relevant operations. It also cites Everett's claim about a specific incident in Saline County: according to him, in February, an "illegal immigrant" with a non-domiciled CDL was detained, transporting drugs worth over $4 million. Details of the case (which agency conducted the investigation, the stage of the process, court documents) are not disclosed in the TV material itself.

As a result, the discussion in Arkansas is now built around two parallel assessments of Act 604's effectiveness. The legislator-initiator operates with statistics on out-of-service for English and arrests for fraudulent CDL and insists that enforcement is already underway. ATU, citing its own observations and some high-profile detentions, claims that the basic problem remains due to the possibility of drivers entering the state with non-domiciled CDL obtained elsewhere and due to visa categories that, in the group's opinion, are used improperly. Simultaneously, FMCSA's federal rules on non-domiciled CDL set the framework within which states must structure the issuance and control of such documents, while the most radical proposals on "non-recognition" and visa restrictions run into jurisdictional issues, as pointed out by R.J. Hawk in comments to KATV.