FMCSA Defends Two ELDT Registry Removals, Opens Three Appeals

FMCSA's Director of the Office of Safety Programs filed responses dated October 19, 2026, defending the agency's emergency removal of two Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) providers from the Training Provider Registry (TPR): Star Career Training Inc. of Del Rio, Texas, and Fifth Wheel Commercial Driving School Inc. Both were removed effective August 31, 2026, after an FMCSA audit matched roadside citations for English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations under 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) to drivers the schools had certified as ELDT-complete. FMCSA tied 37 such drivers to Star and 32 to Fifth Wheel. The agency told both petitioners their removal should stand because their theory curricula failed to adequately teach the ELP standard required under 49 CFR part 380, Appendices A and B, amounting to willful disregard of subpart G.

Separately, FMCSA's Chief Safety Officer on October 19 ordered the Office of Safety Programs to respond within 10 days to three more TPR removal petitions: CDL Safe Driving Academy LLC of Herndon, Virginia; GrandMax LLC of Davenport, Florida; and CDL Commercial Trucks Training LLC of Houston. The orders do not state the removal grounds in those three cases.

What's next

• FMCSA's final decisions on the Star Career Training and Fifth Wheel petitions are pending; no decision date given.
• Agency responses in the CDL Safe Driving Academy, GrandMax and CDL Commercial Trucks Training dockets are due roughly by 2026-10-29, 10 days after the October 19 orders.

All sources

• Other: In the Matter of Star Career Training Inc. - Director of the Office of Safety Programs Response to Order on Petitioner's Petition for Administrative Review of Emergency Removal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Entry Level Driver Training Provider Registry — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20
• Other: In the Matter of Fifth Wheel Commercial Driving School Inc. - Director of the Office of Safety Programs Response to Order on Petitioner's Petition for Administrative Review of Emergency Removal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Entry Level Driver Training Provider Registry — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20
• Other: In the Matter of CDL Safe Driving Academy LLC - Order Requiring Response to Petition for Administrative Review of Emergency Removal from Training Provider Registry — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20
• Other: In the Matter of GrandMax LLC - Order Requiring Response to Petition for Administrative Review of Emergency Removal from Training Provider Registry — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20
• Other: In the Matter of CDL Commercial Trucks Training LLC - Order Requiring Response to Petition for Administrative Review of Emergency Removal from Training Provider Registry — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20
• Other: In the Matter of RPMP Trucking LLC - Office of Registration's Motion to Close the Docket — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-20