The head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation defended the state’s commercial driver’s licensing (CDL) procedures, saying his agency goes beyond what is required by federal regulations.
“No illegal immigrant gets a driver’s license of any class from PennDOT,” Secretary Mike Carroll said. “The only folks that get a driver’s license are residents of our Commonwealth that are citizens, or legally, lawfully present folks from other countries.”
Carroll spoke at a Pa. Senate Transportation Committee called in response to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatening to withhold nearly $75 million in federal funding if the state failed to revoke illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs. That step came after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of a suspected terrorist in Kansas who was illegally in the United States and issued a license in Pennsylvania in July.
Carroll confirmed PennDOT issued the CDL after running the name through the federal SAVE immigration verification system. Carroll said on the day the arrest was announced, he again checked the SAVE system, and the suspect’s legal status had not changed.
He said PennDOT maintains copies of the documents that each individual presents to prove lawful presence, including approximately 11,000 non-domiciled CDL holders. Federal regulations do not require states to maintain these records.
“I am not going to testify to 100% perfection by PennDOT driver license folks, nor by the Secretary of Transportation,” he said. “We do our level best.”
Carroll acknowledged errors can occur and that bad actors and fraudsters will always try to beat the system. He referenced accused killer Luigi Mangione having a New Jersey Real ID with a fake name when he was arrested in Pennsylvania as an example.
Carroll assured committee Chairman Kim Ward that PennDOT would work with the federal government to ensure the state does not lose funding. Pennsylvania’s non-domiciled CDL program remains paused, as requested by the U.S. DOT, even though a federal emergency rule limiting non-domiciled CDLs has been put on hold.
“Yesterday’s hearing was really encouraging,” Rebecca Olyer, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association (PMTA), told trucknews.com on Dec. 10. “The committee is taking the time to truly understand what’s happening with CDL licensing, and that thoughtful approach matters. It was also reassuring to hear PennDOT’s confidence in meeting FMCSA’s audit request.”
Olyer testified before the committee as part of a separate panel representing the state’s trucking industry.
“The challenges we are discussing today did not originate with any single state or agency. They stem from gaps in federal guidance, uneven state-level implementation, and data systems that do not yet function as a fully integrated national network,” Olyer said in her opening remarks.
She asked lawmakers to take legislative actions that align with federal standards and to increase penalties for intentional fraud and other violations that pose risks to public safety. Beyond just Pennsylvania, stronger coordination between state and federal agencies is needed to ensure accurate, real-time immigration verification, she said.
Jeff Mercadante, chief safety and risk officer for Pitt Ohio, said the fleet had three drivers with non-domiciled CDLs out of 1,900. A closer review identified inconsistencies in work visa expiration dates and, in one case, a CDL issued for six years rather than four years. As a result, Pitt Ohio chose to remove the drivers from service.
Mercadante said Pitt Ohio invests the additional time and money to conduct deeper background checks and more rigorous internal testing. Smaller fleets lack the resources to do the same.
“These processes slow down hiring, delay productivity, and require dedicated staff attention simply because the licensing system cannot always be relied upon to ensure that every CDL holder has met the minimum standards,” Mercadante said.
With the current pause in non-domiciled CDL issuance, he said fleets cannot onboard foreign drivers, even when they meet all federal requirements. Once the pause is lifted, there will be concerns about processing and verification backlogs.
“Non-domiciled CDL holders are not bad people,” Anthony Cloud, director of safety and education for PMTA, told the committee. “A few bad apples are making them all look bad. That is really unfair to them. But from an enforcement standpoint, we can’t look the other way. There needs to be stricter punishment when we do catch these folks.”
Cloud continued: “And I think it needs to extend past the driver and to the motor carriers themselves because ultimately the motor carrier is the one that’s responsible for compliance.”
