On Tuesday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy promised to support the trucking industry by acting to enforce English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial vehicle drivers at the direction of the Trump Administration last month.
During a press event in Austin, Texas, on May 20, Duffy was joined by trucking industry stakeholders, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the Texas Trucking Association to emphasize the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) commitment to upholding an April 28 White House Executive Order (EO) requiring increased enforcement of existing regulations requiring that commercial vehicle drivers speak and read English.
Duffy announced the official rescinding of a 2016 policy that removed the requirement to place drivers out-of-service for ELP violations. Duffy stated that in 2015, before the Obama-era ELP policy was issued, approximately 99,000 ELP violations were issued, and that 1,000 of those drivers were taken out-of-service. Duffy said that in 2024, only 10,000 ELP violations were issued, and zero drivers were placed out-of-service for ELP violations.
That’s not going to happen anymore. We’re going to put safety first,” Duffy said.”Allowing drivers who cannot read stop signs or understand police officer’s instructions to operate an 80,000 pound big rig threatens the safety of every American on our roadways.”
Duffy announced that USDOT would issue new guidance to ensure “a driver who can’t understand English will not drive a commercial vehicle in this country. Period. Full stop.”
Duffy highlighted other action that USDOT is undertaking in order to comply with the EO, including a review of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued by relevant State agencies and an investigation into “the security procedures of how CDLs are given.” Duffy also noted the EO’s directive to improve working conditions for U.S. truckers and mentioned increasing truck parking availability as a possible action in that direction.
OOIDA President Todd Spencer also spoke at the event in support of USDOT’s increased ELP enforcement.
“This is a good day for truckers. It’s a good day for families. And it’s a good day for common sense,” Spencer said. “Out on the road, there’s no margin for error. Truckers drive 80,000-pound vehicles through all kinds of terrain—steep mountain passes, narrow turns, busy city streets. The only thing separating safe trips from deadly ones can be a simple road sign. These signs aren’t suggestions. They’re warnings. They save lives—but only if they’re understood. That’s why English proficiency behind the wheel isn’t some bureaucratic requirement—it’s a life-and-death safety standard. Truckers must be able to read road signs, communicate with law enforcement, and respond in emergencies. When that doesn’t happen, people get hurt—or worse. But for nearly a decade, enforcement of this requirement was gutted. The result? Safety violations didn’t go away—they just stopped being tracked.”
USDOT vows to 'take action' to uphold English language requirements for truckers
USDOT vows to ‘take action’ to uphold English language requirements for truckers
Discussion in 'Truckers News' started by drvrtech77, May 20, 2025.
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Grumppy, hope not dumb twucker, Kinsman and 5 others Thank this.
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Sean Duffy - the Fox News guy and his wife on the same channel?
See how this works out. Haven’t had much faith in leadership in trucking for a while. Probably just a fluff piece before he moves on to another position, with little done on ‘our level’.D.Tibbitt, 201, Sirscrapntruckalot and 1 other person Thank this. -
I saw this too and wondered how they could possibly enforce that, and if they did somehow, I think this guy is out of touch on how many foreign truck drivers we have in this country. 720,000. I think California, half of the drivers are foreign. Driving today can be accomplished by a 3rd grader. The elderly people I see driving are far worse than most foreign truck drivers. I think some mistakenly question foreign drivers ability merely because they are foreign,, but they do a good job, I feel. Highways are clearly marked with big arrows, and pretty universal from where ever they came from. Then, who is going to drive those 720,000 trucks? Mr. Duffy?
Not bloody likely, but the 1st to complain when no strawberries on the shelf.
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This can easily lead to shippers and brokers trying to protect themselves as well.
As in if a driver goes up to check in window and it's obvious they struggle speaking and understanding English the shipper now has cover to reject giving that driver the load.
Brokers can update all their carrier agreements and put in guideline that drivers must speak and understand English.
Brokers potentially will be taking steps to protect themselves by calling drivers under same tracking phone number to verify the drivers English skills.
If broker sends in a driver that can't speak English to a shipper and shipper refuses to give driver load or that load ultimately gets put out of service due to language that is easy way for broker to lose business from that customer.
I've been to enough shippers to know they are all already extremely fed up with non English speaking drivers.
Now with this order I'm sure many will take their own steps to protect themselves as well.Gearjammin' Penguin Thanks this. -
Do I think they're dumb? Not at all, they're probably all competent individuals but clear communication on a jobsite is extremely important and keeps everyone safe. At the end of the day I don't want to see someone hurt or something damaged that could have been prevented by everyone being on the same page. -
Perhaps this will solve the ones that like to pretend that they can’t communicate as well. The ones the just drive up when told to wait might often get service faster as they are in the way and just fake the lack of communication ability.
Peplow Thanks this. -
I could see some key words being learned just to get by in certain situations. I'm not going to name them because I'd like these guys gone from the industry.
drvrtech77 Thanks this. -
So a certain well-liked (I'd put a sarcasm tag on that, but it needs to in flashing strobes) 3PL who's known by their 3 initials has moved into the vehicle logistics segment.
They had to send one of the big 3 an email during blitz week that they would be unable to meet their scheduled lift as most of their carrier partners had shut down due to fear of the ELP being enforced and being placed OOS. Basically admitting their carrier base was operating illegally.
BTW, not word of mouth, I have a copy of that email.PacoTaco and drvrtech77 Thank this. -
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