FMCSA Proposes Permanent Out-of-Service Orders for Truck Drivers Who Fail English Proficiency Tests

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving to make English-proficiency enforcement a permanent part of federal (FMCSA English proficiency out-of-service proposal).trucking regulations. Under a proposed rule published in August, a commercial driver who cannot read or speak English well enough to meet the federal qualification standard would be placed out of service immediately. More than 26,000 drivers have already been sidelined under stepped-up enforcement since 2025, and the public has through October 9 to weigh in.

In my cases, a driver’s limited English usually shows up first in communications with the broker or shipper, around safety instructions and shipment requirements. The second place it shows up is reading and understanding warning signs on the roadway. Both are safety issues, not paperwork issues.

What the FMCSA English proficiency out-of-service proposal would do

The proposal, published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under Docket No. FMCSA-2026-0826, would formally classify English Language Proficiency violations as out-of-service offenses under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. In practice, that means a roadside inspector who finds a driver unable to meet the standard would take the driver off the road immediately, rather than issuing a citation and letting the driver continue. The rule would apply nationwide, with a limited exception for drivers operating exclusively within designated commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border. Those drivers would face an out-of-service order only if there is evidence they have operated, or plan to operate, beyond the zone.

A long-standing requirement with a recent enforcement gap

The English-proficiency requirement itself is not new. Federal rules have required interstate commercial drivers to read and speak English well enough to understand traffic signs and signals since the 1930s (the current version sits at 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2)). What changed over the years was enforcement. Around 2014, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance stopped listing proficiency violations in its out-of-service criteria, so drivers who failed roadside evaluations were typically cited and allowed to keep driving. In 2025, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association petitioned to restore the violation to the criteria, and strict roadside checks resumed. Since then, FMCSA says more than 26,000 drivers have been placed out of service for failing proficiency evaluations.

“When a driver can’t read a ‘Steep Grade,’ ‘Runaway Truck Ramp,’ or ‘Do Not Enter’ sign, people die,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said when the proposal was announced in August. “This rulemaking codifies commonsense safety into law. Since reinvigorating strict ELP checks, we have already pulled over 26,000 unqualified drivers off the road.”

Truckers back the FMCSA English proficiency out-of-service proposal

The proposal has drawn notable support from the drivers it would affect most. As of September 22, more than 1,700 public comments had been filed, and the majority back the rule. “Nobody cares more about road safety than professional truck drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said, “and it is common sense that anyone operating an 80,000-pound vehicle must be able to read critical road signs, follow emergency instructions and communicate with law enforcement and first responders.” The comment period runs through October 9, 2026, and comments can be filed on Regulations.gov under Docket No. FMCSA-2026-0826.

What this means for safety on California roads

For motorists, the practical effect is straightforward: fewer unqualified drivers operating heavy commercial vehicles on shared highways. An 80,000-pound tractor-trailer needs a driver who can read warning signs, understand detour and chain-control instructions, and communicate with emergency responders after a crash. If the rule is finalized, that standard becomes a permanent, nationally uniform requirement rather than an enforcement policy that can shift from year to year.

The I-5 and Highway 99 corridors through Kern County move an enormous share of the state’s freight, and the trucking routes through San Diego County are no different. When a driver cannot read a detour sign or confirm a safety instruction with a shipper, it does not matter which highway they are on.

Source: FMCSA proposal docket.

Attorney Q&A: What this proposal means in practice

Where does a driver’s limited English actually show up as a problem in your cases?

“In my experience, it comes up in the driver’s ability to communicate with vendors, whether that is a broker or a shipper. Many times those communications are critical to providing safety instructions and shipment requirements that have an impact on the motoring public. A close runner-up is the inability to read and understand warning signs on the roadway, whether that is instructions about an approaching construction zone, bad weather, or a crash they are approaching.”

Will the proposal actually make roads safer?

“The proposal is certainly helpful because we have the English proficiency laws for a reason, but there is already a struggle to perform enforcement, so I am not sure how effective it will be. Pulling a driver off the road immediately will have a significant impact on the carrier and the broker using that carrier for that load. I would prefer to see some teeth in the law directed at carriers and shippers for hiring drivers who do not meet English proficiency requirements.”

If you or a family member was injured in a crash involving a commercial truck, the driver’s qualifications and the carrier’s hiring practices can be central to the case. Contact us for a free case review at 619-400-2351.