Duffy Gives 3 States 30 Days to Enforce English Mandate
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean to enforce recently renewed English-language proficiency mandates for truckers or forfeit a total of $50.5 million in federal funds.
Duffy in a media briefing said a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigation found significant failures by all three states to follow federal guidelines to place drivers out of service for violating English-language proficiency requirements.
“We are not going to tolerate states that don’t comply with the rules that come from this department,” Duffy said. “We don’t want to punish the states. We want them to comply.”
Duffy was accompanied by FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison. Elison’s agency is responsible for enforcing USDOT regulations on commercial motor vehicles and their drivers, and also distributes Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program money to states.
Safety regulations only work if they are consistently enforced. The trucking industry supports taking concrete steps to ensure every state is enforcing federal requirements like English proficiency. — American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG)
California receives $33 million, Washington gets $10.5 million and New Mexico’s share is $7 million, Elison said.
The three states were issued Notices of Proposed Determination of Nonconformity in a formal process paving the way for FMCSA to withhold 100% of their MCSAP distributions if they fail to comply with ELP enforcement within the 30-day window.
Duffy in May signed an order to resume lapsed federal reinforcement of ELP requirements. That order also included guidance on verbal and highway sign testing to ensure commercial motor vehicle drivers can communicate adequately with inspectors and understand road signs.
Elison said FMCSA collected ELP enforcement data from every state, and sought action plans for those states not yet in compliance. FMCSA determined that from the June 25 resumption of enforcement through Aug. 21 California, New Mexico and Washington exhibited “significant failures” in following federal guidelines to place drivers out of service for ELP violations.
California is accused of failing both to adopt and enforce the ELP guidelines. Of some 34,000 inspections resulting in at least one reported ELP violation during the studied period, only one inspector placed a driver out of service for an ELP violation.
Harjinder Singh is escorted onto an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement on Aug. 21 in Stockton, Calif. (Benjamin Fanjoy/AP)
“At least 23 drivers with documented ELP out-of-service violations in other states were later inspected in California — yet the state failed to honor those violations or enforce ELP, allowing unqualified drivers to continue operating on our roads,” DOT said.
Both New Mexico and Washington have adopted the ELP regulation without enforcing it. New Mexico reported placing zero drivers out of service for ELP violations. Furthermore, the state “allowed at least seven unqualified drivers already found unable to meet ELP standards to keep driving and endangering the lives of others,” according to DOT.
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Washington had some 6,000 inspections resulting in a driver failing at least one of the ELP tests, but only four inspectors removed a driver for ELP non-compliance. Two inspections resulted in ELP citations without the driver being removed from the road. Four drivers were subject to inspection in Washington after being placed out of service for ELP by other states. But Washington “failed to honor those violations or enforce ELP, undermining federal safety standards and leaving dangerous gaps in enforcement,” DOT noted.
Mike Faulk, deputy communications director in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, reacted to Duffy’s announcement: “We are consulting with our state agency clients. We don’t have any further comment at this point.”
Duffy said DOT is considering tying an ELP mandate to commercial driver licensing testing in the “behind-the-wheel” portion of state examinations to determine if a CDL candidate is able to adequately read and understand English.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office reacted on X to Duffy’s 30-day ultimatum. “This is rich. The Trump Administration approved the federal work permit for the man who killed 3 people — and now they’re scrambling to shift blame after getting caught. Sean’s nonsense announcement is as big a joke as the Trump Administration itself.”
This is rich.
The Trump Administration approved the federal work permit for the man who killed 3 people — and now they’re scrambling to shift blame after getting caught.
Sean’s nonsense announcement is as big a joke as the Trump Administration itself. — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice)
Duffy cited a fatal Aug. 12 crash in Florida to underscore the safety importance of the ELP requirement. In the incident, which is , three people were killed after Harjinder Singh, an undocumented immigrant driving on a limited-term/non-domiciled CDL issued in California, made an illegal U-turn that caused a minivan to collide with his truck. Singh, from India, reportedly entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018.
During a subsequent FMCSA inspection at Singh’s place of employment, he failed both the English-speaking and highway sign recognition tests. Singh also received a speeding ticket July 3 in New Mexico during a roadside inspection from New Mexico State Police, according to USDOT.
Chris Spear, president of American Trucking Associations, praised Duffy’s actions to enforce ELP as “a necessary and welcome step toward ensuring safety and accountability on our nation’s highways.”
Spear stated the federal ELP requirements are to ensure “every commercial driver operating in the United States must be able to read road signs, communicate with law enforcement, and understand safety instructions. When states fail to enforce these standards, they put lives at risk.”
He noted ATA has long supported strict enforcement of English proficiency standards in a broader regulatory framework to ensure road safety.
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“We commend the Trump administration for holding states accountable, and we urge swift, consistent action to close these dangerous loopholes. Safety must never be optional,” Spear said. “The vast majority of professional drivers meet these requirements and take pride in their responsibility to keep America moving safely. But allowing bad actors to bypass the law undermines that commitment and threatens the credibility of the entire system.”
Duffy noted that DOT “will take money away” from noncomplying states, adding the agency has “a lot of great tools we have here we don’t want to use.”
