United States: Kevinson Jean, a Haitian-born long-haul truck driver, vividly remembers the unease he carried during his commercial driver’s license test. Despite speaking English, a thick layer of anxiety clung to him.

“I often hesitated to speak,” Jean confessed. “I feared mispronouncing a word and becoming a punchline.”

He recounted classmates from Iran, whose grasp of English was threadbare at best — and yet they still managed to pass. “People barely understood them,” he added, “but they cleared the exam somehow.”

That margin of linguistic leniency is evaporating. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy finalized a rule that could remove truck drivers from service if they fail to meet a mandated standard of English fluency. The move brings to life an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 28, according to NBC News.

For decades, commercial vehicle operators have been required to “read and speak English well enough to talk with the public, read road signs and instructions, respond to officials, and complete reports.” Under former President Obama, violations of this rule typically led to written citations. Trump’s order reverts that penalty — now, drivers who can’t communicate fluently may be sidelined indefinitely.

“We’re not just handing out memos anymore,” Duffy declared during a press briefing in Austin, Texas — home to the country’s densest population of freight haulers. “If a driver can’t speak English, they’re not going to operate a rig here. End of story.”

The hardline stance has found applause from groups who see it as a public safety enhancement. Yet others are sounding alarms, warning that the directive risks ejecting thousands from the workforce without grappling with deeper industry ailments like low pay, grueling schedules, and inconsistent training standards.

The American Trucking Association expressed gratitude, crediting Trump with addressing a “longstanding concern” over uneven rule enforcement. In a letter to Duffy dated April 10, the group placed inconsistent CDL training programs at the top of its list, with English proficiency enforcement trailing close behind.

Duffy also revealed plans to audit the procedures used by each state to grant commercial licenses. That includes examining drivers without state residency — dubbed “nondomiciled” truckers — both from other parts of the US and abroad.

“For too long, policy has been coddled by political sensitivity at the expense of public safety,” Duffy said with measured sternness, as reported by NBC News.

Spotlight on Bias Concerns

Among those worried is Mannirmal Kur, senior policy strategist for the Sikh Coalition. She noted a sharp uptick in Punjabi and Sikh drivers between 2016 and 2018, now numbering around 150,000.

Kur emphasized that these drivers prioritize safety, too, but voiced trepidation over how fluency enforcement might be carried out. “What criteria will dictate who gets tested?” she asked. “Will it be based on accents? Or religious headwear like turbans?”

She warned that being declared unfit to drive due to language concerns could translate into sudden unemployment, with minimal avenues for appeal.

Her organization is calling for a nationwide, standardized approach to language testing to shield drivers from arbitrary judgment and potential bias.

A recent study from the Women of Trucking Advisory Board estimated that roughly 3.8% of CDL holders have limited English proficiency. Despite a steady influx of immigrant drivers, the industry’s demographic remains dominantly white and male.

Federal data reveals a dip in large truck crashes and fatalities throughout 2024, continuing a downward trend that began in 2021, according to NBC News.

Over a two-year window ending in March, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration cited approximately 15,200 violations of English language requirements. Texas accounted for 16 percent — the highest share. Vehicles with Mexican license plates made up 3.4 percent of the total.

A Growing Barrier

Jean, who racks up nearly 100,000 miles annually, believes the new rule will deter many from even attempting to enter the profession.

“Finding a gig’s already tough without a year of experience,” he said. “Now, tack on perfect English? It’ll make starting out nearly impossible.”

For many, this directive doesn’t just fine-tune standards — it builds another wall around opportunity.