Trump Mandates English Proficiency for Truck Drivers

An executive order focused on the transportation sector demands that all truck drivers prove their English proficiency or be taken off the road, among other measures.

The April 28 order gives the Transportation Department 60 days to rescind a 2016 memo — which relaxed the English proficiency standard for truck drivers — and replace it with new guidance.

That guidance will go to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) “and enforcement personnel outlining revised inspection procedures necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements of 49 C.F.R. 391.11(b)(2).” That code section specifies English proficiency as a general qualification requirement for truck drivers.

“Federal law is clear, a driver who cannot sufficiently read or speak English — our national language — and understand road signs is unqualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle in America. This commonsense standard should have never been abandoned,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated in an accompanying release.

Another part of the executive order — “Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for Truck Drivers” — directs FMCSA to “review non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued by relevant state agencies to identify any unusual patterns or numbers or other irregularities” concerning CDLs issued to non-residents. FMCSA was also directed to “evaluate and take appropriate actions to improve the effectiveness of current protocols for verifying the authenticity and validity of both domestic and international commercial driving credentials.”

The final element of the executive order is the least specific. Titled “Supporting America’s Truck Drivers,” it instructs the Transportation Department to “identify and begin carrying out additional administrative, regulatory, or enforcement actions to improve the working conditions of America’s truck drivers” within 60 days.