In late June, Land Line reported that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was cooking up a new proposal related to English proficiency.
Now, we have a few more details.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s recently released 2026 regulatory agenda includes an entry on English-language proficiency and the out-of-service requirements.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is expected to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking as soon as this month.
“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.
Doing so would be a big win for proponents of English proficiency, as only a few regulations on FMCSA’s books automatically require law enforcement to issue an out-of-service order.
Regulations have long required CDL holders to possess basic English skills. FMCSA’s guidance says that commercial drivers should have enough proficiency in English to “communicate 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 records.”
Although there already was an English-proficiency regulation, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance hasn’t always made a violation trigger an out-of-service order.
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.
Earlier this year, OOIDA 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.
Adding to Trump’s executive order, the DOT issued guidance in 2025 aimed at enforcing the regulation.
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.”
The OOIDA Foundation found that in less than a year since the DOT’s announcement, there had been more than 21,000 out-of-service orders related to English proficiency.
On June 24, FMCSA submitted a proposed rule to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget about English proficiency. Although the proposal still hasn’t cleared OMB for official release, we now know that the intent is to directly tie English-proficiency regulations with out-of-service orders.
The FMCSA targets July for the release of the notice of proposed rulemaking, but it can take anywhere from weeks to months for a proposal to clear OMB.
Other agenda items
FMCSA also targeted this month for the release of its long-awaited proposal to tackle the lack of broker transparency.
Other proposals in the latest regulatory agenda address minimum training requirements, automated driving systems, automatic emergency braking, ELD revisions, UCR fees and standards for brokers and CDL holders. Additionally, FMCSA is projecting a final rule for hours of service. LL
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