FMCSA Begins Major Cleanup of CDL Schools: Thousands of Driving Schools Removed from Federal Registry

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the largest cleanup of the commercial driver training market in recent years. As part of the campaign against so-called CDL-mills — schools that formally “sell” CDL without proper training — about 3,800 educational institutions were removed from the federal Training Provider Registry (TPR).

This decision is part of a broader initiative by the U.S. Department of Transportation aimed at improving driver training quality and reducing road safety risks.

TPR is the official federal registry of educational institutions authorized to conduct Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT), mandatory for obtaining a CDL. If a school is removed from the registry, its graduates cannot legally be allowed to take commercial driver's license exams.

According to industry media, FMCSA concluded that thousands of providers:

• do not confirm actual training,
• do not respond to regulator inquiries,
• or exist only formally, without instructors and driving practice.

This was reported in detail by the industry publication Overdrive, noting that this is not a one-time action but a systematic review of the entire industry.

The U.S. Department of Transportation directly linked this campaign to public safety issues. In an official statement, the Secretary of Transportation emphasized that poorly trained heavy truck drivers pose a threat not only to the industry but to all road users.

In one of the statements, FMCSA stressed that “organizations not ready to comply with federal requirements should not participate in the training of commercial drivers.” These statements were made at the end of 2024, when the active phase of inspections began.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) supported the regulator's actions. As reported by Transport Topics, ATA representatives stated that obtaining a CDL is not a formality or a “weekend course,” but serious professional training directly related to road safety.

According to the association, cleaning the registry of fake schools:

• will increase trust in the driver training system,
• protect bona fide training centers,
• improve the quality of personnel entering the industry.

For applicants, this means the need to more carefully check the status of an educational institution before enrolling. For carriers — stricter verification of the origin of CDL from new drivers.

FMCSA has already stated that inspections will continue, including on-site audits of training centers, and the list of excluded providers may expand.

The regulator publishes up-to-date information on requirements and the status of educational institutions on the official FMCSA website, emphasizing that the goal of the campaign is not to reduce the number of schools, but to restore trust in the commercial driver training system in the U.S.