Source reporting: Dallas Express
Federal regulators found violations in 60 of 123 sampled Texas non-domiciled commercial driver’s license files, according to a Dallas Express review published September 13. The finding came from an October 23, 2025, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration letter.
The 49% figure applies only to the sampled files. It does not mean that nearly half of all Texas commercial licenses or all non-domiciled licenses were defective. The federal review began in August 2025 and examined transactions from June 2024 through August 2025.
Dallas Express reported that all 60 files contained validity-period violations. In 56 cases, a failed manual process left the standard five- or eight-year expiration date on the license instead of limiting it to the driver’s shorter period of federal work authorization. The other four files also involved documentation issues. Three were processed while employment-authorization checks were pending, and one relied on documents the federal agency considered unacceptable. The federal letter did not establish that those four applicants lacked lawful status.
FMCSA directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to examine every unexpired credential, correct its systems and training, identify licenses that had been classified incorrectly, and void or rescind credentials that remained out of compliance. DPS corrected or reissued nine of the sampled licenses. A tenth was shortened but still extended beyond the driver’s authorization period, according to the report.
Public records reviewed by Dallas Express through September 12 did not show the final disposition of that file or the other 50 unresolved sampled files. Texas remained on FMCSA’s public list of states with preliminary substantial-noncompliance findings as of that date.
DPS stopped non-domiciled CDL transactions in September 2025 and later began revocation notices. Dallas Express reported that Texas had revoked 6,407 commercial-driving privileges statewide by May 11, 2026, although available records did not connect that statewide total to the 123-file sample.
The report also examined a separate fatal Austin crash involving a driver whose earlier license term exceeded the supporting authorization. It emphasized that the 2021 transaction was outside the audited sample and that no reviewed federal or state record tied any sampled driver to a serious crash or enforcement action.
The findings raise a public-integrity issue for Texas because licensing controls are intended to verify qualifications and lawful eligibility before drivers operate commercial vehicles. The unresolved file outcomes also leave taxpayers and lawmakers without a complete public accounting of whether the ordered corrections were finished.