Regulators may soon tighten the crackdown on truck drivers who lack basic English proficiency.
Currently, truckers who are unable to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement are triggering an out-of-service violation. A forthcoming proposal from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could help keep that trigger in place for the long term.
In late June, FMCSA submitted a proposed rule to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget about English proficiency and out-of-service orders. After weeks of review, the White House cleared the proposal on July 24.
That means we should expect to see the notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register any day now.
Although the official proposal has not been unveiled, we do have some insight into what to expect.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s latest regulatory agenda includes an entry on English-language proficiency and the out-of-service requirements.
“The purpose of this rulemaking is to examine the English-language-proficiency requirements in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) to determine whether they should be codified as an out-of-service violation,” the DOT regulatory agenda states.
This would be an important distinction as most regulations on FMCSA’s books don’t automatically require law enforcement to issue an out-of-service order.
To that point, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance was not removing English-proficiency violators from service until recently.
Starting in 2005, the CVSA considered non-compliance with the regulation an out-of-service violation. That changed in 2015, when CVSA voted to drop the enforcement of the English-proficiency regulation from the out-of-service criteria.
In 2025, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association petitioned CVSA to again take violators of the rule off the road. Following an executive order from President Donald Trump in April 2025, CVSA voted in May 2025 to reinstate the out-of-service order and to shore up CDL testing standards.
Then in October 2025, CVSA petitioned FMCSA to amend 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) to require an out-of-service order when drivers don’t meet English-proficiency standards.
OOIDA says that English proficiency is a must for safety.
“Truckers drive 80,000-pound vehicles through all kinds of terrain – steep mountain passes, narrow turns, busy city streets,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “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.”
Once FMCSA’s proposal is published in the Federal Register, the public will have an opportunity to comment. LL
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