CVSA to Enforce English Tests for Truck Drivers Starting June 25
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inspectors on June 25 will begin issuing out-of-service violations for truckers unable to pass roadside tests for communicating in English and understanding road signs.
CVSA’s upcoming inclusion of English-language proficiency skills for truckers supports both a recent executive order from President Donald Trump and a subsequent mandate from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Full implementation of the law had been suspended for nearly a decade due to an Obama-era memo.
CVSA’s board of directors recently approved adding the lack of English language proficiency to the “CVSA North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria” for noncompliance with 49 Code of Federal Regulations 391.11(b)(2).
On May 20, Philip Thomas, deputy associate safety administrator, issued a memo to all staff called “Updated Internal Agency Enforcement Policy — English Language Proficiency.” It provided additional guidance for federal and state inspectors.
The 11-page memo took immediate effect for all federal inspectors to initiate a process to disqualify all commercial motor vehicle drivers entering or operating in the U.S. who cannot communicate proficiently in English.
It noted Duffy “has determined that a person is qualified to drive a CMV in interstate commerce if they can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, respond to official inquiries and make entries on reports and records.”
NEWS: has announced new guidelines to enhance enforcement of English proficiency for commercial truckers.
Under ' leadership, we're improving highway safety by ensuring every driver is qualified and proficient in English—our national language.
Starting June 25,… — U.S. Department of Transportation (@USDOT)
All FMCSA staff were advised to conduct all roadside inspections in English and start a language-proficiency test on a driver if an inspector’s initial conversation indicated the driver failed to understand English.
“We are certainly getting inquiries and are referring most to FMCSA, as they are typically questions related to the guidance,” Adrienne Gildea, CVSA deputy executive director, told Transport Topics. “We are working with our members and our partners at FMCSA to prepare for implementation of the out-of-service criteria on June 25.”
Federal regulations and CVSA’s out-of-service criteria create roadway safety standards for commercial motor vehicles and professional drivers. These standards are adhered to by law enforcement officers, commercial vehicle drivers and motor carriers. Certified commercial motor vehicle enforcement personnel use out-of-service criteria to determine if drivers or vehicles present an imminent hazard requiring immediate removal from service.
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Under new FMCSA guidance, an English-language proficiency test should be done by inspectors first in a driver interview and then a possible assessment of a driver’s ability to comprehend highway traffic signs.
Per FMCSA, inspectors conducting driver interviews testing English capabilities should refrain from using “I-Speak cards, cue cards, smartphone applications, and On-Call Telephone Interpretation Service … as those tools may mask a driver’s inability to communicate in English.”
An inspector who finds a driver unable to speak sufficient English can stop and issue an out-of-service violation without conducting a highway signs test. Should an inspector proceed to the second phase regarding signs, the inspector is to evaluate how well a driver can recognize U.S. highway traffic signs in English, including interchangeable, electronic “dynamic” message signs the driver may see while operating a commercial motor vehicle.
An inspector issuing an out-of-service violation to a driver for lacking English speaking and comprehension skills must document all supporting evidence, such as a driver’s responses or communication failures.
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“Should the driver be placed out-of-service, the inspector should advise the driver that it is unlawful to operate a commercial motor vehicle while out-of-service and that the driver should not operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce until the condition is remedied,” FMCSA stated. “However, when performing inspections of drivers operating commercial motor vehicles in the border commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border, FMCSA enforcement personnel should cite drivers for violations of 49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2) in accordance with this policy, but should not take follow-on actions of placing the driver out-of-service or initiating an action to disqualify the driver.”
Hearing-impaired drivers who have a hearing standard exemption shall not be deemed unqualified and placed out-of-service if unable to communicate orally in English.
FMCSA noted that when CVSA starts incorporating the English-language proficiency mandates June 25, there will be “uniform enforcement by federal and state inspectors.”
