Federal English enforcement has sidelined thousands of truck drivers this year, and states are being warned to comply or risk losing funding
- Crackdown on truck drivers failing English requirements is intensifying nationwide.
- Nearly 10,000 violations issued this year, leading to 3,020 out-of-service orders.
- US government threatens to cut funding unless states enforce English rules.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration largely flies under the radar, but it’s been getting more attention over English Language Proficiency enforcement. This comes amid the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
More: Truck Drivers Who Can’t Speak Or Read English Will Be Pulled From The Roads
Sidestepping the political debate, data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows there were 9,873 violations for drivers who “cannot read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and record.”
This resulted in 3,020 out-of-service orders, which the government says “typically grounds a driver or vehicle immediately pending the correction of the cited issues.”
Sharp Rise In Violations
This is a huge jump from 2024, when there were 3,547 violations related to the aforementioned English requirement. However, they only resulted in a single out-of-service order. In 2023, there were 349 violations and no out-of-service orders.
That being said, things aren’t that simple as there are multiple sections related to English. For example, in 2023, there were 8,801 violations related to “Driver cannot read or speak the English language sufficiently to respond to official inquiries,” and this spawned eight out-of-service orders.
Feds Threaten To Cut State Funding
Caveats aside, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been pushing for truck drivers to be able to understand English. Just last month, he threatened to cut federal funding to California, Washington, and New Mexico unless they adopt and enforce English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial drivers.
The government said, “An investigation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found significant failures by California, Washington, and New Mexico to properly place drivers out-of-service for ELP violations. In addition to the data, California Highway Patrol has also publicly stated it has no intention of following this important federal regulation.”
At the time, Secretary Duffy said “States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow” as “they put the driving public in danger” when they fail to enforce the law.
