This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Friday January 9th, 2026.

Over 50% of all North Carolina’s commercial drivers licenses for foreign nationals were issued illegally.

That is according to a memo from the US Transportation Department posted by Representative David Rouzer via Facebook.  The Department will further withhold nearly 50 million dollars from our state in funding if the issues are not resolved.

The items found in an audit by the federal government include:

• Drivers who licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the US expired
• Drivers who were ineligible from holding a license in the first place
• Drivers who were not verified to be here legally

Currently, there are over 900 such drivers in North Carolina, which means over 450 trucks that weigh thousands of pounds are being driven by illegal aliens, people who do not understand our language, or both.

While the number is small in comparison to the over 100,000 estimated new CDLs issued in North Carolina last  year, the number itself is not important.  Somehow, North Carolina has enough gaps in our licensing system that allows illegal non US citizens to drive on our roads in violation of state and national law. 

North Carolina needs to pause all new CDLs issued to non-US drivers and review all applicants thoroughly.  As part of that we need to see why 54% fell through the cracks in the first place.

But secondly, and most importantly, according to Zip Recruiter the average truck driver in Wilmington earns about 76,000 dollars a year – and the need has never been greater.  Need a job in North Carolina?  Are you a US citizen and able to drive?  Check out your nearest truck driving school.

We’ll see you on down the road,

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample.  Thanks for listening.