Trump DOT to punish states that do not enforce English requirements for truck drivers
The Trump management, through Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, has threatened to withhold millions of dollars in federal funding from California, New Mexico, and Washington unless these states enforce English language proficiency requirements for commercial truck drivers. The DOT gave the states 30 days to comply with the mandate or risk losing up to 100% of federal funds from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. This move responds to safety concerns, highlighted by a recent fatal crash in Florida involving an undocumented truck driver who failed to follow traffic rules. Despite the federal guidance issued in May to enforce english requirements,California’s Highway Patrol has publicly stated it will not enforce the mandate. A prior examination found these states had significant enforcement failures regarding drivers’ English proficiency. The administration argues that consistent enforcement of these safety rules is critical to protect the public and ensure that all commercial drivers can safely operate large vehicles.
Trump DOT to punish states that do not enforce English requirements for truck drivers
The Trump administration has threatened to pull millions of dollars of federal funding from blue states California, New Mexico, and Washington unless the states adopt and enforce English language proficiency requirements for commercial truck drivers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Tuesday that the three western states will have 30 days to comply with his department’s English requirement for truck drivers or face up to 100% of federal dollars withheld from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said in a statement. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger.”
Earlier this month, Florida police identified an undocumented immigrant as the driver of an 18-wheeler truck who caused a fatal crash in St. Lucie County.
The truck driver, Harjinder Singh, was named by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as the truck operator in the Aug. 12 collision that killed three people.
Singh had ignored a road sign that showed no U-turns were permitted at the place where he attempted to make an illegal U-turn.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking aggressive action to close these safety gaps, hold states accountable, and make sure every commercial driver on the road is qualified to operate a 40-ton vehicle,” Duffy said.
In May, Duffy put in place new guidance to enforce the English language proficiency requirement for truckers as part of a broad federal effort to ensure truck drivers could read and follow road signs.
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California Highway Patrol has publicly stated that it does not intend to follow the federal regulation.
According to the DOT, a previous investigation by the Federal Motor Safety Administration uncovered “significant failures” by California, New Mexico, and Washington to mark drivers “out-of-service” for English Language Proficiency violations.
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