For the first time in history, English has designated as the official language of the United States. President Donald Trump signed that executive order on March 1, 2025. In a press release on that day, the White House declared: “From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States.” It might not seem like a big deal, or even something that should have never taken so long to do, but being able to read and speak the nation’s language is making an impact. Truckers, for instance, will now be required to take their commercial driver’s test in English.
Truckers Must Be Able to Pass Tests in English
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the newest rule that truckers must meet federal requirements to understand English enough to be able to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement. The department issued a press release stating: “At least 17 fatal crashes and 30 deaths in 2025 alone were caused by non-domiciled drivers who will now be ineligible to get a license.”
These incidents inspired random inspections of truckers. The federal effort involved 8,215 stops that led to almost 500 drivers being disqualified because of their lack of English skills. California recently started enforcing the rules and pulled more than 600 drivers off of its roadways.
That was just the first part in the effort to make sure truckers are being safe and well-trained. Now the newest law will require drivers to test for their commercial licenses in English. Right now, many states offer tests in different languages. California, for example, allows tests in 20 different languages. As AP reported, Duffy remarked that “a number of states have hired other companies to administer commercial driver’s licenses tests, and those companies aren’t enforcing the standards that drivers are supposed to meet to demonstrate their driving and English skills.”
Duffy said, “Once you start to pay attention, you see that all these bad things have been happening. And the consequence of that is that Americans get hurt. When we get on the road, we should expect that we should be safe. And that those who drive those 80,000-pound big rigs, that they are well-trained, they’re well-qualified, and they’re going to be safe.”
Goodbye Fraudulent Companies
Another phase in this campaign is going after fraudulent trucking companies. It’s surprisingly easy to open a business in the industry. Currently, prospective owners only have to pay $300 and show proof of insurance to be able to register to operate. Audits to ensure everything is on the up-and-up could take a year or more and might only be done virtually. These lax provisions made it easy for what the industry calls “chameleon carriers” to register multiple names “and then simply switch names and registration numbers to avoid any consequences after crashes or other violations,” AP explained.
Chief Operating Officer for the American Trucking Associations Dan Horvath said this has made it easy for companies to just change names and registration numbers when they have been ordered to shut down. “What we think at ATA has happened over the years is that we have a lack of true enforcement and intervention with motor carriers that are in operation,” he remarked.
Driving schools are also being targeted in the campaign. The Transportation Department recently announced that more than 550 commercial driving schools that train truckers and bus drivers must close after they discovered the companies employed instructors that weren’t qualified, found that students were not being adequately tested, and other safety issues.
According to Duffy, 448 schools that they investigated didn’t meet basic safety standards including teaching students how to handle hazardous materials and using the wrong equipment to teach the drivers. Another 109 schools took themselves off the registry after learning about the planned inspections.
“For far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems, wreaking havoc on our roadways. This safety loophole ends today,” Duffy said. “Moving forward, unqualified foreign drivers will be unable to get a license to operate an 80,000-pound big rig.”
The new rule is set to take effect mid-March.
