More Than 1,200 Truck Drivers Fail English-Language Tests
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More than 1,200 truckers have been removed from U.S. highways since late June for being unable to communicate adequately in English or read English-language highway signs, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data revealed.
The data also found that the vast majority were employed by U.S.-domiciled motor carriers.
The findings were posted to an that publishes roadside inspection data and followed a July 30 social media update from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on his agency’s renewed focus on English-language proficiency among truckers.
“Since I took action to enforce language proficiency requirements for truckers, our state partners have put roughly 1,500 unqualified drivers out of service. That’s what I call results! If you can’t read or speak our national language — ENGLISH — we won’t let your truck endanger the driving public,” Duffy said. While his estimate was higher than the actual 1,212 violations cited in FMCSA’s , the results reflect a substantial increase in OOS violations for English-language proficiency requirements. Duffy in late May revived federal enforcement of existing language-proficiency rules that were set aside under a 2016 policy directive.
Since I took action to enforce language proficiency requirements for truckers, our state partners have put roughly 1,500 unqualified drivers out of service. That’s what I call results!
If you can't read or speak our national language — ENGLISH — we won’t let your truck endanger… — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
Following that reversal, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspectors on June 25 began issuing OOS violations for truckers unable to pass roadside language proficiency tests.
RELATED: Trucking Backs English Tests as Enforcement Begins
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“Our members conduct the inspections and upload them to the federal database,” CVSA Deputy Executive Director Adrienne Gildea said. “CVSA does not collect data on this directly.” She noted that the disparity between Duffy’s numbers and the reported figures were likely based on inspection data that the states collect and transmit to USDOT. “FMCSA updates their A&I site, which makes inspection data publicly available monthly,” she said.
During inspections, drivers are subject to four specific violation categories: a driver who cannot read/speak English sufficiently to talk to the general public; understand highway traffic signs/signals in English; respond to official questions; make entries in reports/records.
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Roadside inspectors were provided guidance by FMCSA for interviewing drivers to assess their English-language abilities. Inspectors must begin all roadside inspections in English. If the inspector’s initial contact with the driver indicates the driver may not understand those instructions, the inspector should conduct an interview for English-language proficiency and, if necessary, assess highway traffic sign recognition.
If a driver can speak some English but lacks proficiency in other areas, inspectors can issue the following violations:
- Driver cannot read or speak English sufficiently to respond to official inquiries.
- Driver is unable to understand English-language highway traffic signs/signals.
- Border zone driver cannot satisfy English-language proficiency requirements.
Inspectors are required to document their reasons for issuing language-based OOS violations.
U.S.-domiciled commercial motor vehicles accounted for 99% of the violations issued, while Canadian and Mexican domiciled companies each represented about a half percentage point.
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FMCSA divides states into four regional sectors, which can offer additional insight about locations for violations. Those regions are:
- Eastern: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia
- Midwestern: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin
- Southern: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee
- Western: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
Of the four, the Western region had the most language proficiency violations (412), followed by the Southern (364), the Midwestern (273) and Eastern (163) regions. The Western region also had the most violations for inability to understand highway traffic signs and signals at 68, followed by the Southern (65), Midwestern (41) and Eastern (25) regions.
