President Donald Trump's recent executive order mandating English language proficiency for all commercial drivers, as noted in prior parts of this series, has met with high approval among truckers in Overdrive's audience. Our recent survey asked the question of whether a driver lacking English communication skills should be taken out-of-service at the roadside. Among nearly 4,000 responses, with 700 comments, wide support for the idea was on offer, but also nuanced perspectives on implementation.
As shown in the chart below, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's moves to bring ELP back to an out-of-service violation get the support of the vast majority of survey respondents. But within the 82% "Yes" group, truckers offered different visions for enforcement.
"Any CDL school should ensure that drivers can meet all regulations. It should start there," one said, echoing maybe a dozen others who pointed the finger at states and CDL schools.
"I am a German citizen and a truck driver. Speaking the language in the country a person resides in is not only necessary, but also simply respect."
People all across the political spectrum agreed on this one, too. "I am a very liberal person, not a Trump supporter, but as a truck driver I find the lack of English proficiency to be a big problem," wrote another. "It’s a safety issue for sure."
Maybe 15 others said some version of "America First" or "MAGA."
On a trip to the scales for Roadcheck in Connecticut, Overdrive encountered a non-citizen driver from Afghanistan who said he couldn't read in English, but even that driver supported the ELP mandate from Trump.
[Related: Meeting an out-of-service, non-citizen driver who can't read English]
Others wondered just what do to with drivers placed OOS at roadside for lacking English. "All the non-English-speaking drivers should get at least a few months to learn English, not just change the rules and regulations one day to the other." The commenter envisioned a kind of graduated CDL approach with English instruction as part of return-to-duty training -- "Three months or so to get to a certain level, pass a test, then maybe another three months, take another higher-level English test to keep their CDL."
The idea of test-taking and revamping the credentialing process found popular support among other commenters. "Any CDL school should ensure that drivers can meet all regulations. It should start there," wrote one.
"All testing should be in English only," said another.
Even among survey respondents who didn't support ELP being an OOS violation, more than half, 10% of all respondents, wanted inspectors to do a better job enforcing the English regulation that's been on the books for more than two decades. Those respondents might have been showing a little more faith in the country's CDL schools.
"CDL holders have already passed the written test. They already have the knowledge of the OTR rules and regulations. They don't need to be fluent to hold a talk about their weekends with an inspector," wrote one commenter.
The CDL testing industry itself has called out FMCSA on lax enforcement and allowing unsafe schools to continue operating.
Just 6% said the status quo at the time the survey went out (before FMCSA's new guidance) was good enough. "I know many people like me who have been in the transportation industry for many years, yet we have no accidents or tickets, and we don't speak English fluently," wrote one commenter who disagreed with the administration's moves. "We have the basic knowledge to communicate and drive safely."
Others pointed to America's history of immigrant success and strong stance against "discrimination." Europeans "didn't speak Algonquin when you came to this nation, get over yourselves," in the words of one.
Finally, another astute commenter drew a line between drivers who don't speak English and might just not want to speak English -- that is, with you: "I think when enforcement begins, police will see a huge increase in just how many drivers who couldn't previously communicate in English will suddenly be able to."
Read responses to, results from all the survey questions:
Question 1: Is ELP enforcement truly necessary?
Question 2: What percentage of drivers don't speak English?
Question 3: Do truckers want ELP to be an OOS violation?
Question 4: Non-domiciled CDLs: Should states allow them to go to non-citizens?
