9,500 truck drivers knocked out-of-service for English violations, USDOT boss says
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that thousands of truck drivers have been placed out-of-service for violations of English Language Proficiency (ELP) rules so far this year.
On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Duffy took to social media to announce that 9,500 truck drivers were taken out-of-service “for failing to speak our national language — ENGLISH.”
“This administration will always put you and your family’s safety first,” Duffy said.
We’ve now knocked 9,500 truck drivers out of service for failing to speak our national language — ENGLISH!
This administration will always put you and your family’s safety first. https://t.co/mRVsMI26Ir
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 10, 2025
Duffy’s real-time count is close to the number of English language out-of-service violations reported by a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) database that aggregates roadside inspection violation data from across the country.
The latest tally from the FMCSA database for out-of-service English violations is 8,953.
Increased Crackdown On English Rules For Truckers In 2025
While rules requiring English proficiency for truck drivers have been on the books for decades, enforcement was relaxed in the wake of a 2016 FMCSA memo that directed law enforcement not to place truck drivers out-of-service for ELP violations.
The guidance in this memo was reversed after an April 2025 White House Executive Order (EO) demanded increased enforcement of federal English-language requirements for truck drivers.
Failure to meet ELP standards was officially returned to status as an out-of-service violation by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance as of June 25, 2025.
Federal rules require that truck drivers must be able to 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 in order to avoid an out-of-service order.