Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WHITE HOUSE NEWS—Executive Order requires CMV drivers to meet English proficiency rules, (Apr 29, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The EO cites road safety as the reason for increased enforcement of English proficiency rules.

An executive order from the Trump administration purports to bolster road safety by ensuring workers behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) are properly qualified and proficient in English. The EO, which was released with a fact sheet, mandates that drivers violating English proficiency rules are placed out-of-service.

Executive order. The EO directs the Secretary of Transportation to rescind Obama-administration guidance “that watered down the law” requiring commercial drivers to be proficient in English; to review state issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to identify any irregularities and ensure drivers are validly licensed and qualified; and to carry out additional administrative, regulatory, or enforcement actions to improve the working conditions of truck drivers. Further, the EO mandates revision of out-of-service criteria to ensure drivers who violate English proficiency rules are placed out of service.

English proficiency requirement. Under 49 CFR §391.11(b)(2), a person is qualified to drive a CMV if he or she, among other requirements, can 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. However, pursuant to the Obama-era guidance, which directed inspectors not to place CMV drivers out-of-service for violations of the English Language proficiency requirements, this requirement has not been enforced. The fact sheet further argues that this lack of enforcement has compromised roadway safety and that trucking fatalities have increased since the issuance of the guidance. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will issue new guidance to ensure necessary enforcement of the English language proficiency standard of Section 391.11(b)(2).

In 2019, the FMCSA kicked off a study to isolate whether and to what extent the English proficiency of CMV drivers contributes to accidents involving commercial motor vehicles and to determine the reasonableness of Section 391.11(b)(2). While the final report was delivered by the research contractor, the report was never published.

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