US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will move to write English language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers into a permanent federal rule rather than leave the standard as agency guidance. The proposed rule would make failing an English proficiency check grounds for an immediate out-of-service order nationwide.
Under the proposal, inspectors would place a commercial driver out of service if that driver cannot sufficiently read or speak English or cannot understand highway signs and signals. The agency says a limited exception would apply to drivers operating within US-Mexico border commercial zones, where officers could issue a citation without an immediate out-of-service order.
FMCSA has enforced English proficiency as an out-of-service violation since April 2025, after reversing a 2016 policy that limited enforcement to administrative citations. The agency reports that more than 26,000 drivers have been placed out of service under the current enforcement approach. Officials pointed to fatal crashes in Florida and Colorado, where investigators found drivers were unable to read warning signs or communicate with law enforcement during inspections, as part of the rationale for the rule.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register, opening a public comment period that runs through October 9, 2026. Writing the requirement into formal regulation, rather than leaving it as guidance, would require any future administration to launch a new rulemaking process to loosen the standard.
Georgia carriers and other Southeast fleets operating near the Gulf Coast and border-adjacent freight lanes will be watching how state inspectors apply the standard once the rule is finalized.
Source: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-moves-codify-english-proficiency-requirements