GOVERNMENT
noncompliant licenses, she added. FMCSA Deputy Administrator Jesse Eli- son as past chief counsel issued a non- compliance notice in October to Gov. Greg Abbott and DPS Director Freeman Martin after auditors found a 49% failure rate in a sample of the 9,600 valid non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs issued by DPS. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last year ordered states to halt issuing non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits pending a nationwide federal audit, prompted after foreign truck- ers reportedly caused multiple-fatality crashes in highly publicized cases. “During FMCSA’s investigation of a crash that occurred in March 2025 near Austin, Texas, that involved five fatalities, the agency became aware of a non- domiciled driver … to whom DPS errone- ously issued a regular CDL,” Elison noted. He said DPS erroneously determined the foreign driver’s indefinite employment au- thorization and associated refugee status entitled the driver to a regular CDL instead of a non-domiciled one. However, this DPS “error” resulted in an ineligible foreign driv- er being issued a regular CDL, Elison said. Texas was ordered to complete a list of eight corrective actions, or FMCSA would sanction the state by, first, permanently withdrawing $182.5 million in its fiscal 2027 share of National Highway Perfor- mance Program and the Surface Transpor- tation Block Grant Program funds. A long delay in completing the corrective actions would result in Texas jeopardizing up to $365 million in the second and subse- quent years of noncompliance. Elison advised DPS to fix identified defi- ciencies in its non-domiciled licensing program, such as voiding/rescinding ille- gally issued driving credentials, or face losing its ability to issue CDLs. Since June 1, Texas has resumed issuing
said, “and FTA will continue to support measures that uphold those standards.” Other supporters include the Truck- load Carriers Association, the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Associa- tion and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association. Ryan Streblow, CEO of the National Tank Truck Carriers, lauded the bill. “Accountability in driver records is es- sential to maintaining compliance, pro- tecting drivers from undue pressure and ensuring that commercial motor vehicles operate safely on our nation’s highways,” he said. Texas revokes 6,407 non-domiciled CDLs for foreign truckers By Noël Fletcher Staff Reporter Texas has revoked 6,407 non-domiciled commercial driver licenses held by foreign truckers as the state resumes limited issu- ance under tighter federal requirements. Sheridan Nolen, press secretary at the Texas Department of Public Safety, told Transport Topics that the state sent CDL downgrade notices to those drivers. “Customers were notified that their CDL privileges were removed, but they could continue to operate noncommercial vehicles,” Nolen said. The non-domiciled CDL revocations were part of a corrective action plan that Texas DPS was ordered to follow after be- ing found by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration auditors to have issued
Lawmakers introduce bill that would limit foreign edits to ELDs GHOSTRUCK Act would restrict driver log changes to authorized users in North America
April 1 began enforcing a new out-of- service condition for truckers and motor carriers caught disobeying federal driving limits via ELD tampering. “Beyond powering our nation’s supply chain and economy, our nation’s truck drivers share the road with American families, and there’s nothing more im- portant than ensuring everyone reaches their destinations safely,” said Taylor, who is chairman of the Congressional Trucking Caucus and a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Manual edits to HOS records in ELDs can be performed to remove hours indi- cating a driver worked when in reality the time was used for rest breaks or refueling. The congressmen noted that recent reports have revealed “some for- eign-based dispatchers have manipu- lated driver logs to underpay and over- work their drivers beyond safe hour maximums, resulting in serious safety concerns on American highways.” They contend the GHOSTRUCK Act would close a loophole enabling for- eign-based actors outside the reach of U.S. enforcement authority to avoid facing le- gal consequences if their driver or dis- patcher falsifies records that lead to a fatal crash. Alex Rosen, legislative affairs senior vice president at American Trucking Asso- ciations, thanked Taylor and Steube for working to strengthen accountability and ensure ELDs are used to promote safety. “Tampering with electronic logs is a growing problem that undermines en- forcement, rewards bad actors and puts the motoring public at risk,” Rosen said. “Roadway safety depends on consistent compliance with hours-of-service regula- tions, and preserving the integrity of elec- tronic logging devices is central to that mission.” The bill also was also backed by Florida Trucking Association CEO Scott Perry. “The safety of our drivers and the travel- ing public on America’s roadways remains the trucking industry’s top priority,” he
By Noël Fletcher Staff Reporter
Two U.S. representatives want Congress to ban people outside North America from changing a trucker’s electronic logging de- vice records. The GHOSTRUCK Act was introduced June 18 by Republicans Dave Taylor of Ohio and Greg Steube of Florida. The full name of the proposed legislation is the “Guarding Hours-of-Service Oversight and Stopping Tampering by Remote Unofficial Carrier Keeper Act.” H.R. 93969 seeks to amend Title 49 un- der the U.S. Code to only allow authorized individuals physically located in North America to edit/annotate ELD records pending driver approval and for other un- defined purposes. “Foreign dispatchers should not be able to manipulate trucking safety records from halfway around the world and put American lives at risk,” Steube said. “Re- ports have exposed how overseas actors are falsifying driver logs, overworking truckers beyond safe limits and avoiding accountability when tragedies occur. The GHOSTRUCK Act closes this loophole and helps keep our roads safe.” The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Ad- ministration requires all commercial trucks operating in the United States to have ELDs that track a driver’s hours of service behind the wheel to prevent ex- ceeding safety limits crafted to deter fa- tigued driving. The issue of fake electronic driving re- cords is of such growing concern that the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance on
FMCSA issued a noncompliance notice to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after auditors found deficien- cies in the state's issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs. (E.J. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
July 2026, Issue 1 • Transport Topics 12
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