President Donald Trump's executive order demanding all commercial motor vehicle drivers speak English and increased enforcement of rules on the books is now effectively the law of the land. Overdrive's readership sounded off on the order, new OOS regulations, and more with a record-breaking response to our May survey.
- A whopping 94% of respondents supported the English-language proficiency (ELP) requirement, with big majorities also in favor of the return of the violation to the out of service criteria.
- The executive order also called for a review of "non-domiciled CDLs," often issued by states to foreign drivers: more than half of survey respondents felt such issuances shouldn't be allowed, objecting on safety and economic fairness grounds.
- A variety of comments expressed sometimes heated opinions on issues like racism, national identity, safety and security.
- This five-part series charts the opinions of owner-operators trucking today as rules and regulations evolve.
The results from nearly 4,000 respondents show overwhelming support for the administration's efforts on enforcing ELP as an out-of-service (OOS) violation, likewise a deep skepticism of truck drivers domiciled in foreign countries but working in the United States. Yet those results also showcase a huge diversity of opinions, including those of non-citizen drivers or those lacking ELP. More than 700 individual comments included some road horror stories, historical accounts by 40-year-plus drivers, and ideas for stamping out fraud, unsafe behavior, and generally improving trucking.
Within the diverse group of comments, nuanced responses sought to tackle the big issues in trucking without getting sidetracked by race or political considerations. Many commenters seemed happy to let other trucks and drivers be, but felt they had seen enough unsafe behavior to speak out when previously they might have held their tongues.
Clearly, readers take safety and pride in their work seriously, and as such expressed a broad range of strong opinions on both the topics of ELP and non-domiciled CDLs issued by states to foreign citizens. Common themes among the responses included a strong national identity and respect for hard work and courtesy, whether that's being a safe driver, learning a new language, or simply being cool and not parking at the fuel island.
Here's thanks the all the survey respondents and the 700 who commented, and all safe drivers for keeping the country going.
Now, the results.
Click/tap each question below for full results, including charts and much more commentary and analysis.
Question 1: Is ELP enforcement truly necessary?
The vast majority of respondents (94%) signaled support for the ELP regulation's enforcement. "Let's face it, they are driving an 80,000-lb. missile on our highways," wrote one commenter, and if they lack ELP, "our national security is at risk."
Just a single percent of respondents felt the regulation was unnecessary, but there's a whole lot of variation within the details.
Question #2: What percentage of drivers don't speak English?
Many survey respondents hear a perceived lack of ELP enforcement everywhere. "Foreign spoken languages are all you hear in the truck stops," wrote one commenter.
Asked to estimate the percentage of working CDL drivers they'd directly encountered in the U.S. today who might not satisfy ELP regulations, respondents' most common answer, with 40% of the vote, was also the highest possible choice -- "more than 25%." That's a much bigger number than recent estimates from other sources.
A scant 6% of respondents said they'd never met a driver who couldn't communicate in English proficiently. For more analysis around drivers' experiences with non-English speakers, and points of view from non-English speakers themselves, read here.
Question 3: Do truckers want ELP to be an OOS violation?
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's moves to bring ELP back to an out-of-service violation got the support of the majority of survey respondents (82%). But within that group, truckers offered different visions for enforcement, some beyond the roadside. "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.
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 requirement. Find more commentary, full results here.
Question 4: Non-domiciled CDLs: Should states allow them to go to non-citizens?
Nearly half of respondents objected to allowing states to issue such CDLs to non-permanent U.S. residents from foreign countries. Economic and safety grounds were their principal reasons: "No, truck drivers from other countries hurt U.S. wages and/or overall road safety."
In the words of one commenter, "non-American drivers are the ones driving rates down hauling freight for pennies on the dollar, causing accidents and making the everyone on the road less safe."
Others felt differently: "There are more than 50 languages spoken in Europe. Drivers from all countries go to all countries with no problems. Drivers should be tested for driving skills, not knowledge of English."
For more detailed accounts from respondents on sensitive issues of citizenship and English enforcement, read here.
[Related: FMCSA issues ELP-enforcement policy guidance for inspectors]
