Thousands of truck drivers could lose their jobs due to not speaking English. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance board voted to make English proficiency violations grounds to place drivers out of service. 

CVSA votes to put truck drivers with limited English out of service 

If the trucker shortage really exists then it might get larger. The CVSA board of directors just voted to make English proficiency violations grounds to put truck drivers out of service. 

However, as there is a semi-truck parking shortage, some drivers with proficient English might be a little excited. 

According to Freight Waves, Trump issued an executive order directing that the federal out-of-service criteria be revised to reflect policy change. It may reverse a policy that the Obama Administration put in place 10 years ago. 

In 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) removed the requirement to place truckers out of service for violating federal English Learning Proficiency rules. The new out-of-service rule goes into effect on June 25. 

Roughly about 10% of truck drivers lack proficiency in English. There are roughly over three million CDL drivers in America, so the out-of-service mandate could cause a significant reduction in the semi-truck driver work force. 

The FMCSA sets the safety rules for the trucking industry as the CVSA has the authority to determine if violating regulations is serious enough to warrant putting a driver out of service in most cases.  

Also, the FMCSA will harmonize the commercial driver’s license English language requirements in 49 CFR Part 383,‘Commercial Driver’s License Standards,’ with those in 49 CFR Part 391, ‘Qualification of Drivers and Longer Combination Vehicle Driver Instructors.’ 

Basically, it will ensure that standards are consistent across the trucking industry.