In late April, President Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to “identify and begin carrying out additional administrative, regulatory, or enforcement actions to improve the working conditions of America’s truck drivers.” Secretary Duffy was given 60 days to comply, which means there should be an update sometime in late June.
The order also reinforces the existing legal requirement that truck drivers 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.”
The President explained: “Proficiency in English, which I designated as our official national language in Executive Order 14224 of March 1, 2025 (Designating English as the Official Language of the United States), should be a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers. They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English. This is common sense.”
In response to the order, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance added English language proficiency into their North American Out-of-Service Criteria. The state of Arkansas also recently passed Act 604, which includes fines of up to $1,000 for commercial driver’s license holders who fail to meet the federal English language requirement.
For additional information, please contact Spencer Phillips.