Judge Blocks Federal Demand for 17 Million CDL Records

A federal judge froze the DOT demand for 17 million CDL records. He cited FMCSA's own policy saying those files belong to the states.

Judge Blocks Federal Demand for 17 Million CDL Records

A federal judge stopped it. The demand for 17 million CDL records is frozen, and the reason he gave came out of the agency's own rulebook.

The order also bars the government from cutting anyone's funding over it.

Nothing changes for your license today. This is about who gets a copy of your file.

Late Thursday afternoon, Senior U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga, of the Eastern District of Virginia, granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Transportation from obtaining more than 17 million CDL holder records while the court decides on a preliminary injunction.

What the database actually holds

The Commercial Driver's License Information System is not a mailing list. Congress created it in 1986 as a state-to-state system so a licensing agency could tell whether an applicant already held a CDL somewhere else. AAMVA has run it under contract with DOT since 1988.

What sits in it, for every commercial driver in the country: name, date of birth, Social Security number and licensing history. FMCSA asked for five years of it, in bulk.

The line that decided it

Trenga did not lean on the states' argument. He leaned on FMCSA's own policy, which he noted "explicitly states that 'the records in CDLIS are not controlled by FMCSA'" — and that those records "belong to the states, not the federal government."

From there he took apart the government's position piece by piece. On whether the court could even hear the case, he wrote that "FMCSA's unequivocal demand that the AAMVA turn over 17 million records constitutes 'final agency action.'"

And on the merits, the court found the states likely to win their Administrative Procedure Act claims: that the demand for wholesale transfer of the database, plus the threatened sanctions, violates the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act and runs contrary to the Driver's Privacy Protection Act and the Privacy Act. The court also found the demand likely arbitrary and capricious.

The part about the money

Here is what makes this bigger than one database. The order does not only stop AAMVA from handing the data over — it stops the agencies from punishing anyone who refuses.

DOT, DHS and the other defendants are barred from taking adverse action over the refusal, including terminating or threatening to terminate federal contracts or funding for AAMVA or for the plaintiff states. More than $10 million in funding and contracts had been on the table.

Two lawsuits, two different numbers

If you have seen both figures quoted, neither is wrong. Two suits were filed the same day, August 13, in the same court:

  • 21 states and D.C. against DOT, FMCSA and AAMVA. This is the case the TRO came out of.
  • 22 states and D.C. against the Department of Homeland Security, over an identical data demand.

The original request was framed as investigating "illegal practices" at CDL schools, with the agencies also stating an intent to identify fraud in the issuance of CDLs and to conduct civil immigration enforcement.

What a TRO is, and what it is not

A temporary restraining order is a hold, not a verdict. It freezes things while the court weighs a preliminary injunction. To get one, Trenga noted, a plaintiff has to show four things:

  • Likelihood of success on the merits
  • Irreparable harm without the relief
  • That the balance of equities tips their way
  • That the relief serves the public interest

The detail worth holding onto: Trenga pointed out that the "standard for granting either a TRO or a preliminary injunction is the same." The court already applied that standard once and the states cleared it.

What this means for you this week

  • Your CDL is not affected. Issuance and renewal run normally. Nothing about this order touches your license.
  • Your file has not moved. AAMVA is barred from handing it to any of the defendants, or to another agency acting with them.
  • Keep your own records straight anyway. Medical card, endorsements and address on file are what your state checks — and that has not changed.
  • Do not pay anyone to "protect" your CDLIS record. There is nothing an owner-operator files, opts out of, or buys here. This is a case between states and federal agencies.
  • Watch for the preliminary injunction ruling. That is the one that decides whether the freeze holds.

If your week is about the truck and not the courtroom, The Truck Savers is in Houston and Dallas, and the road-ready news lands in our newsletter.

Original source: Overdrive — Court blocks DOT's demand for CDL records, siding with states.