Although the topics of English-language proficiency and non-domiciled CDLs have dominated recent trucking headlines, the issues aren’t new.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has been sounding the alarm for years about the safety concerns involving truck drivers who lack the English skills to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement.
In formal comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2008, OOIDA wrote that “English language testing should be mandatory.”
“Experience has shown that a commercial motor vehicle driver’s ability to communicate effectively in English is critical from a safety perspective,” OOIDA wrote in the 2008 comments signed by then-President Jim Johnston.
The Association then went on to provide examples of crashes involving drivers who were suspected of lacking basic English skills.
In 2003, Bosnian truck driver Ejub Grcic was involved in a crash that led to the death of five people. Police said that Grcic’s truck was in excess of the Pennsylvania road’s 10-ton weight limit when he ran a stop sign and crashed into a car. Grcic later pleaded guilty to five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawful activities for driving a CMV while unable to speak English. Land Line reported that an FBI investigation found that Grcic was unable to speak, read or write in English at the time he obtained his license.
In 2007, Land Line reported that a train plowed through a truck’s trailer as it rested on an active rail line in Kings Mountain, N.C. At the time, police said the truck driver understood very little English and didn’t realize that a sign urged drivers to move forward to avoid blocking the rail line.
“Unless state licensing agencies offer separate English-proficiency tests, the only way to ensure that aspiring commercial truck drivers have a sufficiently firm grasp of the English language is by requiring all CDL and CLP applicants to take both the knowledge and skills tests in English,” OOIDA wrote in 2008. “This requirement must be uniformly applied across the states if the types of accidents described above are to be prevented.”
OOIDA has maintained the message that proper testing and training must start at the CDL level, so that people without the necessary skills – including those without the ability to speak basic English – don’t end up in the driver’s seat in the first place. The key to the regulation is that individuals must be able to “sufficiently” converse in English. As OOIDA President Todd Spencer put it recently, that doesn’t mean they need to recite an encyclopedia. It’s just a conversation.
Florida truck crash
Fast-forward 17 years since OOIDA’s comments, and questions surrounding the testing standards of CDL holders remain front and center.
On Aug. 12 in St. Lucie County, Fla., a minivan crashed into a tractor-trailer driven by 28-year-old Harjinder Singh. All three of the van’s occupants were killed in the crash.
The initial investigation indicated that Singh executed an illegal U-turn that led to the crash. Singh was arrested for three counts of vehicular homicide. According to The Associated Press, the federal government asked for Singh to be transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his criminal case is completed. White Hawk Carriers, which was Singh’s company, had its insurance policy canceled on Aug. 19. The company’s operating authority was revoked on Aug. 20.
FMCSA’s SAFER website shows that Singh’s company – White Hawk Carriers based in Ceres, Calif. – has an out-of-service rate of 12.1%. That’s almost twice the national average.
The crash prompted questions about whether Singh should have been operating a commercial motor vehicle in the United States. Department of Transportation officials said its preliminary investigation found that Singh was incorrectly issued a full-term CDL by Washington in 2023 before being given a non-domiciled CDL by California in 2024.
FMCSA officials reported that Singh failed an English-language proficiency assessment administered after the crash. According to DOT, Singh provided correct responses to only two of 12 verbal questions and was able to accurately identify only one of four highway traffic signs. The DOT said Singh was issued a speeding ticket on July 3 in New Mexico but was not given any violations for inability to speak English.
However, New Mexico State Police released body cam footage of the interaction and argued that there was no reason to question Singh’s English proficiency.
“Regarding the July 3, 2025, traffic stop of Mr. Singh: even if ELP testing had already been in effect, no assessment would have been conducted in this case,” the New Mexico State Police wrote in the news release. “Both the federal guidelines and … statements by the U.S. Department of Transportation make clear that ELP assessments are only required when there is a challenge in communication. As the video of the traffic stop demonstrates, there were no communication issues between Mr. Singh and the officer. Therefore, there would have been no reason to initiate an ELP assessment.”
English-proficiency enforcement
In March, OOIDA petitioned the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance to begin issuing out-of-service orders when a truck driver is unable to meet English-proficiency standards. Following an executive order from President Donald Trump on April 28, CVSA voted in May to reinstate the out-of-service order and to shore up CDL testing standards.
On May 20, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined OOIDA officials in Austin, Texas, to announce that DOT would begin enforcing an existing regulation that requires CDL holders to demonstrate basic English proficiency.
“Federal law has always been very clear. Commercial drivers must be proficient in English,” Duffy said at the news conference on May 20. “English is the language of opportunity in America. Allowing drivers who cannot read stop signs or understand police officers’ instructions to operate an 80,000-pound big rig threatens the safety of every American on our roadways. There are numerous examples across the country where we’ve had people who are operating this kind of equipment who can’t speak the language, and the results have been devastating and taken the lives of so many American families. That’s going to end right now.”
According to the DOT order, enforcement of English proficiency was set to begin June 25.
Are violators being placed out of service?
Yes and no.
According to FMCSA data, 7,688 English-proficiency violations were issued from the enforcement date through July. Out of those violations, only 1,380 were placed out of service.
Texas issued the most violations with 2,603. However, the Lone Star State placed violators out of service only 1.1% of the time. It is unclear how many of those violations occurred in the commercial zone along the Southern U.S. border. Arizona – another border state – had the second-most English-proficiency violations for that time period. A little more than 20% of Arizona’s 335 violations were placed out of service.
Non-border states (Oklahoma 76.7%, Colorado 76.6%, Missouri 68.8%, Kansas 57.1% and Arkansas 52.7%) are typically placing violators out of service at a higher rate.
Only two states placed violators out of service for each violation, although the sample size is small for both states. South Dakota placed violators out of service in all 16 instances, while Alaska had only one violation.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 27, Duffy specifically called out California, Washington and New Mexico for not enforcing the English-proficiency regulations. It is likely not a coincidence that these are also the three states connected to Singh before the deadly crash in Florida.
The DOT said that California administered about 34,000 inspections with at least one reported violation from June 25 through Aug. 21 but that only one resulted in an out-of-service violation for lack of English proficiency.
“Notably, at least 23 drivers with documented ELP out-of-service violations in other states were later inspected in California – yet the state failed to honor those violations or enforce ELP, allowing unqualified drivers to continue operating on our roads,” the DOT wrote in a news release.
The DOT added that Washington and New Mexico also “failed to honor” ELP violations given in other states.
In New Mexico’s news release, the state breaks down communication between the agency and the DOT on English-proficiency enforcement plans and the July 3 traffic stop.
“Contrary to statements made at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s press conference (on Aug. 26) by Secretary Duffy, we kept the FMCSA field division in New Mexico informed of our progress with updates on July 24 and again on Aug. 12, 2025,” New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said. “This was all prior to our agency becoming aware of the tragic crash that occurred in Florida.”
New Mexico said it plans to begin statewide enforcement Sept. 1.
Duffy said those three states are being given 30 days to comply. He added that if they do not, the DOT will withhold up to 100% of its funding from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. Duffy also said that additional disciplinary actions will be taken if the states continue not to comply.
“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said in a statement. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking aggressive action to close these safety gaps, hold states accountable and make sure every commercial driver on the road is qualified to operate a 40-ton vehicle.”
As of the morning of Aug. 28, it remained unclear if the body cam footage and New Mexico’s statements would have any effect on the directive from the DOT.
In addition to getting states to enforce English-proficiency regulations at roadside, Duffy acknowledged that drivers who are unable to read road signs and demonstrate basic English skills shouldn’t be receiving a CDL in the first place.
“When an individual comes in to take their test to become a commercial driver, they do a skills test,” Duffy said. “I had my CDL for 30 years, I think. It’s a process in which we all go through. At that point, it would be clear that this driver doesn’t understand all of the road signs and doesn’t speak the language. But, miraculously, they’re passing the skills test. I think any commonsense analysis would say that doesn’t make any sense. How could that happen? So, we’re going to be looking at that as well. How are these tests being administered, and are they following the rules? Is there some gaming of the system that we need to address?”
OOIDA still sounding the alarm
Nearly two decades after filing its 2008 comments to FMCSA, OOIDA continues to advocate for measures that will keep unsafe drivers out of the driver’s seat.
Shortly after Duffy’s news conference on Aug. 26, OOIDA issued a statement of support.
“OOIDA strongly supports Secretary Duffy’s action to enforce long-standing English-proficiency requirements for commercial drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Basic English skills are critical for safely operating a commercial motor vehicle – reading road signs, following emergency instructions and communicating with law enforcement are not optional. The fatal crash in Florida this month tragically illustrates what’s at stake. Road signs save lives, but only when they’re understood. Operating an 80,000-pound vehicle without being able to read road signs isn’t just dangerous; it’s completely unacceptable. We join U.S. DOT in calling on California, New Mexico, Washington and all other states to enforce English Language Proficiency requirements as an out-of-service violation. This is common sense, and it protects everyone on the road.”
The Association also said that the federal government needs to identify the safety loopholes being exposed through the non-domiciled CDL program. On Aug. 18, OOIDA asked Duffy to immediately suspend states’ ability to issue non-domiciled CDLs. Then on Aug. 21, OOIDA sent letters to 43 governors, asking them to stop issuing non-domiciled CDLs.
“OOIDA has been sounding the alarm about safety concerns involving non-domiciled CDLs, and until questions surrounding this program are addressed, we are asking that you suspend your state’s issuance of these licenses entirely,” the Association wrote in its letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “While we understand that the driver in the Fort Pierce crash was not licensed by your state, we are making the same request of all governors in states that currently issue non-domiciled CDLs. The safety of America’s truckers and the motoring public should not be a partisan issue.” LL
Land Line Managing Editor Jami Jones contributed to this report.
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