The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working to codify into law mandatory English-language proficiency requirements for drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
Under the proposed regulation, CMV drivers who are not able to sufficiently speak or read English or fail to understand highway traffic signals and signs will be placed out of service, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said in an Aug. 7 statement.
More than 26,000 drivers have already been prevented from driving trucks on U.S. roads for failing English Language Proficiency (ELP) tests as part of a DOT crackdown.
According to the DOT, federal regulations for English-language proficiency standards for commercial drivers have been in place since 1937.
In 2016, the Obama administration banned officials from placing drivers out of service solely for failing English proficiency tests. Instead, such drivers would receive only minor administrative citations, according to the department.
The DOT said that lowering ELP requirements has led to a “steep drop” in driver standards and resulted in multiple accidents.
According to the DOT, an investigation into the matter concluded that the driver was unable to read English warning signs. The person also failed to communicate with law enforcement during routine inspections.
The department cited another fatal crash in Colorado, caused by a driver facing similar language deficiencies.
At the time, a White House fact sheet said that the order sought to make English proficiency a “non-negotiable safety requirement” for commercial drivers.
In a May 2025 statement, The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, raised concerns about the English proficiency requirement outlined in Trump’s order.
Mannirmal Kaur, Sikh Coalition senior federal policy manager, said that while the group was not opposed to mandating basic English skills for truck drivers, it was working to ensure that rules resulting from the order do not “disproportionately or discriminatorily” affect members of the Sikh religious or Punjabi ethnic community.
Advocacy groups estimate that there are about 150,000 Sikh truck drivers in the United States.
The Sikh Coalition said it seeks to make sure that inspectors assessing the English skills of Sikh and Punjabi drivers do so “fairly and objectively.” The advocacy group also sent a letter to the DOT, detailing its concerns about the Trump order.
In its latest statement, the DOT said that the proposed rule codifying mandatory English Language Proficiency requirements will create a unified standard across the United States, with every state applying the same out-of-service requirement for truckers who do not pass ELP tests.
Drivers from Mexico who are unable to speak or read English will be stopped and placed out of service, preventing their entry into U.S. communities, the DOT said.
Once the rule is codified, future administrations won’t be able to weaken ELP requirements for truck drivers as was done back in 2016, according to the department.
“Federal law is clear, drivers who can’t read or speak English—our national language—or understand road signs are unqualified to operate 80,000-pound big rigs on America’s highways,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in the statement.
“By making these commonsense English proficiency standards permanent, we are closing a dangerous loophole that has cost Americans their lives. The Trump Administration is committed to putting American families first and ensuring the safety of our roads.”
During the announcement, Trump said the initiative was necessary to put a stop to dangerous driving conditions, highlighting that at least 30 deaths nationwide over the past year have occurred because of accidents involving illegal immigrants driving heavy trucks.
“For many years, American highways and roadways have been terrorized by unqualified illegal aliens dangerously driving big rigs,” Trump said.
