Trump administration to enforce law requiring truck drivers to speak English

Law requiring truck drivers to speak English

The Trump administration took steps on Tuesday to enforce a federal law that requires truck drivers in the country to speak English.

AUSTIN - The Trump administration took steps on Tuesday to enforce a federal law that requires truck drivers in the country to speak English.

Under federal law, a driver must "read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse 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."

President Trump signed an executive order last month calling for the law to be enforced. 

Department of Transportation to enforce English rules for truckers

Rule requires truckers to speak English

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy signed new rules that will enforce federal law requiring truckers to speak English.

What Happened:

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy was in Austin on Tuesday to sign a secretarial order to direct the Department of Transportation to enforce the law.

The signing reversed an administrative rule change from 2016 by the Obama administration.

Duffy says instead of being taken off the road they were give a "slap on the wrist."

After the action taken on Tuesday, truckers would be taken out of service if they are pulled over and found unable to speak English.

The Department of Transportation is also reviewing the security procedures around how commercial drivers licenses are given out and verification protocols for domestic and international credentials.

By the numbers:

Duffy says in 2015, before the change by the Obama Administration, over 99,000 drivers had English proficiency violations and a thousand were taken out of service.

In 2024, only 10,000 violations were found and zero were taken out of service.

What they're saying:

"For too long, misguided policies have prioritized political correctness over safety of the American people," said Duffy. "The President's recent executive order is a clear statement. We support America's truckers and will safeguard our roadways for our truckers and for the American people. This means enforcing common-sense rules and removing unnecessary burdens that hinder our trucker's work."

Pres. Trump's executive order on truckers

President Trump signed an executive order on April 28 to reinforce a federal law that requires commercial truck drivers to be proficient in English.

The Trump administration says that the law has not been enforced in years.