On April 28, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order for Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers. The EO declares it “the policy of [the] Administration to support America’s truckers and safeguard our roadways by enforcing the commonsense English-language requirement for commercial motor vehicle drivers and removing needless regulatory burdens that undermine the working conditions of America’s truck drivers.” Current Federal law provides that a commercial motor vehicle driver 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.” 49 C.F.R. § 391.11(b)(2). A June 15, 2016, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) guidance document describes circumstances in which that regulation will and will not be enforced. The new EO requires that the Secretary of Transportation rescind that guidance document within 60 days and issue new guidance with “revised inspection procedures necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements of 49 C.F.R. 391.11(b)(2).” Such guidance should ensure that “a violation of the English language proficiency requirement results in the driver being placed out-of-service.”

In addition to issuing updated guidance as described, the EO requires that the Secretary of Transportation, through FMCSA, review state-issued non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses “to identify any unusual patterns or numbers or other irregularities,” and “evaluate and take appropriate actions to improve the effectiveness of current protocols for verifying the authenticity and validity of domestic and international driving credentials.” Within 60 days, the Secretary of Transportation must also “identify and begin carrying out additional administrative, regulatory, or enforcement actions to improve the working conditions of America’s truck drivers.”