On October 30, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced that 7,248 CMV drivers have been placed out of service since the FMCSA and state motor carrier safety enforcement agencies began enforcing the English Language Proficiency requirements as an OOS violation.

Failure to comply with the federal regulations requiring ELP for CMV drivers became an out of service violation again as of June 25, 2025, after President Trump issued an Executive Order requiring increased enforcement of federal English language proficiency for truck drivers.

The EO mandated repeal of a 2016 FMCSA memo that directed enforcement personnel not to place drivers OOS for ELP violations and to issue civil penalties instead.

In compliance with the White House EO, in an emergency vote the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance added English proficiency to its North American Out-of-Service criteria effective June 25.

To avoid an OOS order, a driver must be able to read and speak English sufficiently to converse with the general public, understand highway traffic signs, respond to official inquiries, and make entries on reports and records.