ELDT Enforcement Heating Up

 

Federal regulators have ordered more than 550 CDL schools to shut down or be removed from the Training Provider Registry after inspections found major compliance failures.

Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ELDT rule, training providers must follow the required curriculum, provide legitimate behind the wheel instruction, and upload completion records directly into the federal system. If they cannot document that, they can be removed from the registry.

Inspectors reviewed over 1,400 training sites. Hundreds failed to meet basic federal standards. Others voluntarily withdrew once inspections began.

Once a school is removed from the registry, it cannot issue valid ELDT certifications. That effectively shuts down new enrollments overnight.

Why Schools Are Being Targeted

Audits are zeroing in on documentation and actual instruction. Providers must prove the theory curriculum was delivered, behind the wheel training actually happened, the student was deemed competent, and the completion record was properly uploaded.

If that paper trail does not hold up, regulators pull the provider’s status.

ELDT created a centralized database and now regulators are actively using it.

What This Means for Drivers

If a school is removed and a student’s completion was never uploaded, that student cannot test. No record in the system means no CDL exam.

If the CDL was already issued and the completion was properly recorded at the time, the license does not automatically disappear. But if falsified or improper documentation is uncovered, that can trigger deeper review.

Documentation is everything. In this environment, if it is not in the system, it does not exist.

What This Means for Carriers

For motor carriers hiring entry level drivers, this matters.

Insurance underwriters are already cautious with inexperienced drivers. Add questions around training legitimacy and the scrutiny increases. Training background, school reputation, and experience details now carry more weight than they did even two years ago.

We are in a compliance verification phase, not an assumption phase.

Truck U Take

Five hundred plus schools getting shut down is big. That tells you regulators think the training pipeline has problems (shocker). If you are hiring brand new CDL holders, know where they trained. Because when a claim happens, underwriting is going to ask.

If you are hiring new drivers or sending someone through CDL school and want to understand how that decision impacts your trucking insurance, call us at 254-294-7798 or email info@trucku.biz. 

This post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. Truck U is good, but we are not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Do not make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet unless it is from us, in writing, with your name on it.

All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.