A $23, two-hour online CDL theory course grew fat on FMCSA's school shutdowns — now ELDT Nation faces a proposed removal of its own

An online CDL school that built its business on the wreckage of the federal CDL-mill crackdown is now facing removal itself. ELDT Nation, an online provider that offers two-hour CDL Class A theory courses for $23, has been issued a Notice of Proposed Removal by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to Overdrive on Nov. 3. The agency did not say why the notice was issued, but the sequence Overdrive reconstructed is the story: the company marketed itself as the approved alternative while its competitors were being shut down, and it did not mention its own pending removal while doing so.

The pitch arrived first. On Oct. 18, ELDT Nation contacted Overdrive offering to write articles about FMCSA’s emergency shutdown of 110 “sham” CDL schools — competitors whose shutdowns it then marketed itself against as an FMCSA-approved course. Those schools were shut down because the Department of Transportation found they had graduated 10 or more students who later got English language proficiency violations, and many have since been reinstated to the Training Provider Registry. An ELDT Nation representative confirmed on Oct. 29 that the company had seen “an increase in our sales directly related to” the shutdowns.

The product under the pitch is speed. Gabriel Ruimy, the founder of Qosmos.ai, an online education platform that owns ELDT Nation, said the company has “educated nearly 30,000 students in the last year.” Asked how a Class A theory course covers all 30 modules in just two hours, Ruimy said he had cracked the code on delivering CDL theory at lightning speed, and faulted competitors as “pretty subpar,” saying 70% do not offer video modules. The comparison other trainers draw is stark. Shawn Gresham, a certified driver trainer and 17-year Class A CDL holder, told Overdrive his theory block is 45 hours, with 30 classroom units plus a two-hour final, out of a 160-hour total program. “Is two hours enough? No,” Gresham said. “Two hours is less than our single pre-trip inspection unit (3 hours) or our hours-of-service unit (2.5 hours). You can’t cover 30 required topics in two hours. You can click through 30 topics in two hours, and that’s the difference.”

The English-proficiency question is where the interview turned. Asked how ELDT Nation ensures that students who take the self-paced class entirely online can proficiently speak English, the representative said that since the website and all emails are in English, students “wouldn’t be able to get through onboarding” if they did not speak the language. Pressed on translator apps and the possibility of someone else completing a course on a student’s behalf, the representative answered: “That is a good point, and to be honest it’s probably something we need to tighten up more. There are definitely exploits that could be manipulated there.” Ruimy later said “no one can take our courses and pass the assessments without speaking English,” but he did not answer follow-up questions about translation apps or how exactly the platform ensures the applicant speaks English.

The removal notice is the fact neither man volunteered. Neither Ruimy nor the other representative mentioned that ELDT Nation had received a Notice of Proposed Removal from FMCSA. FMCSA requires providers with pending removals “to notify current driver-trainees and driver-trainees scheduled for future training of the proposed removal.” Ruimy said he was cooperating with the agency and expected to be back in good standing soon. Schools that used the service are split: of three CDL schools ELDT Nation listed as clients, one denied using or knowing of it, one had used it briefly as a backup with nothing negative to report, and a third called it “horrible.” Brent Griffith, owner of Rapid CDL Denton, said he put about 100 students through it while between providers and that repeat submissions required another $23 payment. Ruimy denied any student was ever charged twice.

The legal backdrop explains how a two-hour theory course can exist at all. “The problem is federal ELDT [regulation] doesn’t set a minimum number of hours,” Gresham said. “It’s proficiency-based. So a provider can run a two-hour online theory course, have the student pass a quiz, and legally report it to the Training Provider Registry.” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs has vowed to crack down on inadequate and fraudulent CDL schools, which under the current model simply “self certify” compliance; under Barrs the agency has launched in-person audits and a registry cleanup that has led to nearly 10,000 schools being removed. Theory is also only one step: applicants through any school still have to pass a written test at the DMV and get a commercial learner’s permit for behind-the-wheel training.

For anyone choosing a CDL school, the practical points are concrete. A Notice of Proposed Removal is a proposal, not a completed removal, and ELDT Nation says it is cooperating; but a provider under a pending removal owes its trainees notice of that fact, so any student enrolled there should ask for it in writing. Check the registry listing before paying any online provider, ask how identity and English proficiency are verified in a self-paced course, and remember what the certificate proves: that a student passed a provider’s assessments, not that the student sat through a set number of hours, because the federal rule sets no floor.