If commercial truck drivers aren’t required to have English proficiency, the USDOT has threatened to withhold funding from three states.
The Transportation Department called on the states of California, New Mexico, and Washington on Tuesday to possibly withhold funding.
A number of actions have been taken by the president’s administration to address concerns about unproven English-speaking truck drivers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week that the US was immediately halting the issuance of all commercial truck drivers’ worker visas.
A rule mandating the compliance of commercial drivers in the US to meet English proficiency standards was announced by President Trump in an executive order issued in April.
fewer offenses
Since the introduction of the new language standards, which require truck drivers to be able to recognize and read road signs and communicate with authorities in English, according to the Transportation Department, which has conducted roughly 34, 000 inspections in California.
However, one inspection revealed a driver had been suspended from service due to an English language rule violation. Additionally, after California’s traffic inspections, 23 drivers who had violations in other states were permitted to drive.
Similar statistics were provided by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for the other states, with Washington finding more than 6, 000 safety violations during inspections but only requiring four drivers to be suspended for English language violations. Since the rules became law in New Mexico, no drivers have been suspended or disabled.
Penalties are enacted more frequently.
Duffy outlined the conditions that would force truck drivers who didn’t meet them to cease their jobs in May.
Truckers who are capable of comprehending and interpreting our traffic signs are much safer on American roads. According to Duffy, this common-sense change makes it possible for the penalty for breaking the law to be greater than a slap on the wrist.
If they don’t comply within 30 days, according to Duffy, the government may withhold about $50 million in federal funding.
The states did not respond to comments requests right away.
Duffy claimed last week that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was looking into a fatal crash on a Florida highway. According to Florida and US officials, the driver was an Indian national who had legal legal authority to travel to the United States but did not speak English. According to Duffy, the investigation revealed that the three states had violated the laws.
Harjinder Singh, the driver, is facing three counts of vehicular homicide. He attempted an illegal U-turn through an “Official Use Only” access point, blocking traffic, and leading to the fatal collision after a minivan struck his truck, according to police.
Trump’s executive order in April replaced the guidance from 2016 that inspectors wouldn’t place commercial drivers out of work if their only offense was a lack of English, even though the English-proficiency standard for truckers has a long history in US law.
Duffy claimed that failing to properly enforce the requirements for driver qualification raises serious safety concerns and makes crashes more likely.
About 16 percent of US truck drivers were born abroad, according to FMCSA, in 2023.
Every commercial driver operating in the United States must be able to read road signs, communicate with law enforcement, and comprehend safety instructions, according to American Trucking Associations CEO Chris Spear.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply