ederal enforcement now sidelines about 2,000 drivers a month, ATA VP says
Steve Brawner
Federal enforcement of a long-dormant English-language rule is now sidelining about 2,000 drivers a month with out-of-service violations, an American Trucking Associations executive said.
The current enforcement environment reflects a return to a rule that dates to 1937 but was unevenly applied for much of the past decade. A 2016 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration guidance document was interpreted by many agencies to mean drivers should not be placed out of service for English-language deficiencies, resulting in minimal enforcement across states.
“Basically between 2016 and last year, there were next to no out-of-service violations for English language,” said Brenna Lyles, ATA’s vice president of safety policy. “It just wasn’t a consistently enforced violation across states, across jurisdictions.”
That changed in June 2025, when roadside inspectors began placing drivers out of service if they were not proficient in English, following an executive order issued earlier that spring and subsequent action by FMCSA.
In the months since, enforcement has settled into a steady pattern. Lyles said there have been some minor procedural adjustments and an initial learning curve as states aligned their approaches, but there have been no significant surges or declines in violations.
“At this point, we are seeing pretty consistent application of the rule,” she said. “States needed some time to update procedures or seek direction, but that implementation phase has largely passed.”
Consistency concerns
Even as enforcement has stabilized, questions remain about how proficiency is determined and whether the process yields consistent results nationwide.
The evaluation includes a two-part test. First, an officer conducts an interview with the driver, asking questions related to routine job duties. Second, the driver must correctly identify or interpret common road signs. While the signage portion is more objective, the interview component does not rely on a standardized scoring system, leaving room for interpretation by individual officers.
That subjectivity has become a central concern for some carriers and industry groups.
“We have had carriers whose drivers have passed English-proficiency stops in Texas and failed them in Arkansas,” said John Esparza, president and CEO of Texas Trucking Association. “What is proficiency? Define it for us so that we can train to it, and more importantly, ensure we are putting safe drivers on the road.”
The variability reflects the inherently human element of roadside inspections, even as industry groups and regulators work to promote consistency.
Lyles said the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has provided guidance to enforcement agencies and emphasized documentation standards. Officers are instructed to base interview questions on a driver’s day-to-day responsibilities and to follow a defined sequence of steps during inspections.
If a carrier disputes a violation, it can seek redress through FMCSA’s DataQs system.
“We work closely with our partners at CVSA, and they have been diligently working on this,” Lyles said. “The procedures are clear and the guidance is straightforward in terms of what officers need to do.”
While the debate over subjectivity continues, the rule itself has prompted little change for many fleets, particularly those that already emphasized safety and compliance in their hiring practices.
“Our policies have always been the same and straightforward,” said Matt Godfrey, president of ABF Freight. “All of our drivers have to meet all federal driver qualification standards as part of the application process.”
Godfrey said English proficiency has long been treated as a basic safety requirement, and the renewed enforcement has simply reinforced existing expectations.
“I support it because English-language proficiency is a safety issue,” he said. “Drivers need to be able to read road signs, respond in case of emergencies, communicate with law enforcement, and work effectively with customers and teammates.”
Other carriers expressed similar views. Averitt Express said it requires proficiency as part of its hiring process and uses multiple steps to verify that new drivers meet the standard. Averitt Express ranks No. 29 on the for-hire TT100.
FedEx Freight said it complies with Department of Labor and FMCSA regulations and supports consistent enforcement, noting that uniform application of rules helps reduce risk and supports predictable operations. FedEx Corp. ranks No. 2 on the for-hire TT100.
In some cases, companies have gone a step further. Private firms have begun developing training tools tailored to trucking, including English-language learning platforms designed to help drivers build job-specific communication skills.
For smaller fleets, the impact of the tougher stance has been more visible.
Alan Riels, owner of Crossett, Ark.-based Dedicated Logistics, said the policy has affected his company in a positive way. His roughly 85-truck dry van operation would not hire a driver if there were any question about English proficiency.
Those standards, he said, are reinforced by experience.
Safety Director Scott Richardson said company equipment has been involved in multiple incidents with drivers who could not communicate with responding officers. In one case, a driver involved in an accident in an Indianapolis parking lot spoke no English, making it difficult for authorities to assess the situation.
Beyond enforcement at roadside inspections, additional policy changes are reinforcing the requirement across the broader labor pipeline.
Policy pressure
The Department of Labor now requires employers to include English-language proficiency standards in job orders and applications for temporary or permanent labor certification for foreign drivers. Employers that fail to meet the requirement receive a notice of deficiency, and processing of their applications is paused until the issue is corrected.
The FMCSA rule applies not only to U.S.-based drivers but also to those entering the country from Canada and Mexico. A limited exception exists in certain commercial border zones with Mexico, where drivers may be cited for violations but are not placed out of service.
States have also begun to take complementary steps.
On June 1, the Texas Department of Transportation announced that commercial driver license and commercial learner permit knowledge exams will be administered only in English. Previously, the written portion of the test was offered in English and Spanish, while the skills test has long been conducted exclusively in English.
Interpreters are not allowed during any part of the testing process.
Esparza said most carriers in Texas have not raised concerns about the change because they already expect drivers to meet English-proficiency requirements. However, he noted that the interstate nature of trucking means drivers must meet standards not only in their home state but across multiple jurisdictions.
That reality underscores the industry’s call for greater clarity.
“The folks I’ve talked to had zero concern about going full English because they had confidence in the drivers they’ve hired,” Esparza said. “But when you have a system that can be interpreted differently, that creates challenges for carriers that operate across state lines.”
Over time, he expects those challenges to diminish as enforcement practices become more uniform and as both regulators and industry participants gain more experience with the rule.
He also believes the renewed focus on enforcement ultimately serves a broader purpose.
“We should expect that people driving in our state should speak English, period, end of story,” Esparza said. “That’s the way it’s always been, and it’s as it should be for very specific reasons of safety.”
