Non-English speaking truck drivers to be removed from US roads
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 28, 2025, calling on non-English speaking truck drivers to lose their truck driving privileges. Americans and legal residents must pass a written and driving test before getting a driver’s license. Being able to read and follow traffic signs and signals forms a big part of passing the exam. However, what about those individuals who cannot read or understand English? American truckers have complained about the dangers posed by foreign truck drivers who do not speak or understand English. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will put Trump’s plan into action.
From NBC News:
He recalled classmates from Iran who didn’t speak English fluently but still passed their exams. “Nobody could understand them, but they passed,” he said.
They and other truck drivers will now be subject to roadside English proficiency tests. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy officially signed a directive for his department to take truck drivers off the road if they are not fluent in English. The directive puts into effect an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 28.
Trump’s order changes the penalty for violations of the law, which for decades has required that, as a qualification to be a commercial motor vehicle driver, a person must “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.”
The Obama administration had relaxed the penalty from taking drivers off the road to being issued a citation.
“We are issuing guidance that ensures a driver who cannot understand English will not drive a vehicle in this country. Period. Full stop,” Duffy said in a news conference in Austin, Texas, the state with the highest number of heavy truck and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
Additional Reading:
Louis, F. P., & Gamboa, S. (2025, May 20). DOT confirms Trump order to get truck drivers who aren’t proficient in English off the road. NBC News. Link.
Category: Donald Trump, Society
ALL drivers, not just truck drivers. As a former driver instruction teacher, I have tried to instruct but, due to language barriers, they good not understand what I was convey to them. Simple things, like STOP, keep you distance, slow down, use mirrors, etc.
Pardon my grammar and spelling. Should have been they do not. (Brain and finger get messed up.)
I love tailing and honking at student drivers.
I have seen ads for driving schools posted in Somali among other languages.
Good! In my search for FGS I see a buncha articles on big rig accidents caused by these doods that went thru a “gin mill CDL” school. I had to jump thru all kinds of hoops to get my CDL and show proficiency in all requirements.
IF the states that want to give free licenses without proper knowledge of laws and testing, and the drawbacks to “NO English” deport them especially is they are the reason an accident where bodily harm or no insurance and run away, know as ‘hit and run.’
Bone head truckers on YT,,, fun
Swing wide… It’s a friggin’ trailer!
Student With Idiot For Trainer, Stevie Wonder Institute For Trucking, Sure Wish I’d Finished Training, See What I Fucked-up Today, … like CRST, Cedar Rapids Stunt Team, Completely Rebuilt Swift Truck, and how to say “Swift” in German-Schneider!
Don’t forget Slow Wagon In Fast Traffic. Back in the day before Swift and Schneider leased owner operators, Schneider (55 mph) would invariably be getting passed by either jb hunt (57 mph) or swift (57.5 mph). Talk about 3 companies that would throw a wrench into your time/distance calculations.
or having another 20 minutes added on to travel time because you got caught behind a JB HUNT (Jim-Bob Has Underspeed Neutered Trucks) passing a Swiftie!
In Europe (for more reasons why our ancestors left) trucks are restricted to 100km/hour on the highways and truckers must submit strip recorder charts of their speed for police review monthly (and get fined if they broke that speed limit on there). They are allowed to pass at 110kmh within that, however. So, at night (when most major long-haul commercial trucking happens to control congestion) you’ll have lines of trucks leapfrogging each other at 110kmh by mutual gentlemen’s agreement to max their speed. Made driving at night on the Autobahn (divide highway, two-lane each way, mostly) intetesting. 65mph wasn’t a bad speed, but folk who wanted to tear along at 100+ after dark had to either wedge themselves into that rotation or wait behind it.
Now if they would just ban the spanish exam on ATM’s.
I’m surprised they don’t issue peso’s instead of greenbacks.
Please re-insert your card for English.
Once had an urgent shipment to Dell Computers arrive late: the driver, who NEEDED to be on their dock at 6AM, wasn’t there – about three hours later he called in looking for directions – he had seen the capital A in San Antonio, driven there, and had been driving around there looking for Round Rock, a suburb of Austin. No habla Ingles, senor!
HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!
The old proclamation oughta get em.
Right.
I guess nobody told him that about 10-20% of the drivers on the road don’t have a valid driver’s license already. Of those half are illegals and the other half are just people who give zero fucks because they don’t know how to drive, can’t read and/ or are criminals.
Welcome to all the f*ckers drivin’ Mexican in Hell Paso though they clearly have rules to obey back home.
I had to take the nys drivers written and driving test to get my automobile drivers license. Took me two times to pass the road test. Had to go to a driving school to learn how to drive. second time the state driving tester says parralel park. using the clock system, guy sees me parking and before I was able to completely park, the guy says, you passed. On the way back to the school, the driving teacher tells me that most of the driving instructors had money on me for a pass or fail on the road test. I went through 2 or three chauffers licences while working for Brink’s as the company went to different weight trucks. I think there were classified and un classified chauffer licences untill nys went to the CDL class ABC licenses. I had the class B license until I retired. I had Hazmat and coil or pipe on the license plus another class something to do with trucks carrying liquids I had to take the Hazmat test at DMV when I re newed my license and the others were no test. Gave up the hazmat after we had one of the trucks carrying gold immersed in a hazardous liquid inside containers. crew opened up the truvk next day and were overcome by fumes from the produck eating through the floor of the truck.My memory is a little foggy on the above classes on my license.
I’ve had a more than a few interesting experiences dealing with non-English-speaking “Road Toads” with CDLs, many of whom suddenly understand English as soon as they think you owe them money!
Around here this is a huge problem. The professional OTR call them “beads and flip flop” drivers. They are mostly employed by local trucking/delivery companies and are an absolute menace on the roads.
Neither they nor their employers carry valid insurance, or identities. They may have what appears to be valid insurance but that, the driver and the “company” disappear when they can’t stay in their lane and sideswipe you.
Daily, if not multiple times a day there are reported incidents.
Hundreds of times a day for wrecks.
Keep in mind Hispanics illegally in the country have been trained by both their governments and immigration NGOs to flee from any and all traffic accidents when possible. There is absolutely no chance they will stop and provide information on their own or wait for the police to show up.
The few times I showed up to a wreck and a Hispanic with no license was still on the scene their vehicle was disabled and they were either trapped in it or too injured to run away, had small children or I got there really fast. A couple of times they tried to run away after I showed up. At least twice when the driver fled on foot they were killed by being run over in a second accident by running into the roadway, they weren’t even being chased. Kind of a Darwin/ Karma thing.
Your best bet if you get into a wreck with a Hispanic is to pull out your phone immediately and start recording. If they complain have everyone else with you start recording too. Get the license plate and them on camera, preferably talking. A dash cam is highly recommended.
Just be careful not to get run over when they flee.
As part of my job for an insurer, I had to review traffic collision reports. If one of the involved drivers ran away from the scene but was subsequently ID’d, invariably they were illegals with no insurance or license.
Like we say, REAL Truckers don’t wear flipflops, pajamas or shorts on the job!
“No speekee Eengleesh, you no drive big truck heere!” I first got my Class A CDL back in 1998, I paid for the school with my own money and have kept it over the years. Since the early 2000s the great big trucking outfits have been going for hiring only the cheapest “Steering Wheel Holders” they can find, many hired right after getting off the boat or plane as soon as they receive a license from some fly-by-night CDL mill! The more of them we get off the road, the better. Maybe next, the non-English-speaking Taxi Drivers?
Recently renewed my CDL in Illinois, and due to a seat belt ticket 7 years ago, all license renewals require passing the written portion of the test.
While there taking MY required tests, there were a couple of our non English speaking Southern neighbors with interpreter taking their written CDL test. No Spanish speaking personnel to listen in to make sure Jose wasn’t giving
hoe b nor hoe c the answers. Jose was interpreting all the standard questions DMV asks, and into the truck they went for the road test.
In fucking credible.
This is incredible. Isn’t the CDL test an individual test?
Good. It’s long been illegal to drive a CDL vehicle on American roadways if you’re not able to read, speak, or understand english. My little brother was nearly killed by one of these drivers who didn’t speak a word of english.
I think this should be extended to Security personnel and nurses aids.
I’ve had experience with both.
I was replaced by a Somali immigrant at my job at Wells Fargo who couldn’t speak English fluently, and couldn’t write a report to save his life. I found out from one of the tellers a few years latter that; “he was completely useless”.
When I was at the Veteran’s Home we had several immigrants that didn’t seem to understand basic English who were put in drug dispensary. It was almost impossible to make them understand what it was you needed on your own drug list, and if you needed something special, or were required to undergo special treatment, they would just sort of stand there and smile as if you had just asked them; “so, how’s your family?”
Makes me wonder how many of the gazillion trucks on I-40 and I-81 through eastern Tennessee are being operated by these clowns.
Having been a commercial vehicle inspector in the SW and had to deal with multiple Mexican nationals driving in the state in big rigs, I whole heartedly agree with the restriction. There is far more than just understanding signage required for commercial drivers and that really does mean understanding the language to comprehend the regs and laws.