FMCSA Moves to Pull More Than 550 Truck Driving Schools From Its Training Registry

In February 2026, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that more than 550 commercial driver's license training schools were on their way off the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Training Provider Registry, the list a school must be on to deliver the entry-level driver training required before a CDL skills test.

The February 18 announcement capped a five-day enforcement push. FMCSA sent more than 300 investigators into all 50 states and carried out 1,426 on-site investigations of training providers, which DOT described as sting operations.

The results

• 448 schools received notices of proposed removal for failing to meet basic federal standards.
• 109 providers took themselves off the registry voluntarily after learning investigators were coming.
• 97 more providers remained under investigation.

Investigators reported a familiar list of problems. Some instructors did not hold the license or permit needed for the vehicle they were teaching on, including school bus credentials. Some schools trained on vehicles that did not match the course being offered, skipped required student assessments or admitted they did not meet their own state's requirements. DOT also cited fake addresses and inadequate training on hauling hazardous materials, and said one school flagged in the sweep had previously trained school bus drivers.

"If a school isn't using the right vehicles or if their instructors aren't qualified, they have no business training the next generation of truckers or school bus drivers," FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said.

FreightWaves reported that schools receiving a notice of proposed removal had 30 days to show they comply or face permanent removal from the registry. The February action followed a first wave in December 2025, when, according to FreightWaves, DOT removed nearly 3,000 providers and put another 4,500 on notice. Commercial Carrier Journal reported that the registry listed roughly 16,000 training providers in late 2025.

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer welcomed the crackdown. "Rather than fix retention problems and working conditions, some in the industry chose to cut corners and push undertrained drivers onto the road," Spencer said, according to FreightWaves. "That approach has undermined safety and devalued the entire trucking profession."

Non-domiciled CDL rule made final

The school sweep came days after FMCSA published its final rule on non-domiciled CDLs in the Federal Register on February 13, 2026. The rule reaffirms, with mostly technical changes, the September 2025 interim final rule that limited non-domiciled commercial learner's permits and CDLs to holders of certain employment-based nonimmigrant status. The final rule took effect March 16, 2026. The D.C. Circuit had stayed the interim rule in November 2025, so the earlier regulations had been back in force while the final rule was pending.

What it means for drivers and fleets

Anyone enrolled in or planning to start entry-level driver training should confirm that the school is still listed on the Training Provider Registry, and ask whether it has received a notice of proposed removal, before paying tuition.

Fleets that recruit new drivers or run their own training programs should check the registry status of every school they hire from, keep training certificates in driver qualification files, and expect closer scrutiny of where their newest drivers were trained.