by Noi Mahoney at Freight Waves
Texas carriers say English language tests hitting bilingual fleets hardest
More than 7,000 commercial truck drivers have been placed out of service this year for failing to meet federal English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday on X (formerly Twitter).
In his post, Duffy said 7,248 drivers have been sidelined as of October 2025, citing real-time violation data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The figure represents a sharp increase from 1,500 drivers reported in July — reflecting heightened roadside enforcement since the rule was reinstated over the summer.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation requires commercial truck drivers to speak and understand English to operate a big rig — or they will be taken out of service,” Duffy said in the post.
According to FMCSA’s national inspection database, at least 5,006 ELP-related out-of-service violations were recorded through October — a number that has continued to rise in recent months as more states ramp up enforcement.
The surge stems from a White House executive order issued in June, which reinstated English proficiency as an out-of-service violation for commercial drivers. The order repealed a 2016 FMCSA memo that had instructed officers not to remove drivers solely for failing to meet English requirements.
Under the updated policy,…