WASHINGTON — The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) issued a challenge on Wednesday to the Federal Motor Carrier Association (FMSCA) regarding enforcement of English Language Proficiency (ELP) Driver Qualifications regulations.
In a social media post, the SBTC addressed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Deputy Secretary Steve Bradbury and FMSCA.
“We guess with Chevron gone, if [Sec. Duffy], [USDOT] and [Deputy Sec. Bradbury] are not going to immediately engage us in discussions on the Trump Administration requiring FMSCA to abide by their own English Proficiency Driver Qualifications regulations, we will have to have the discussion in front of a Federal Judge. We cannot have non-English truckers killing truckers. Please call Mr. Bradbury. Today. And report back to the SBTC Board of Directors,” the SBTC said in the post.
Official Language
President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the official language in the U.S. on March 1. Since then, the SBTC has been vocal about the lack of enforcement of a requirement that commercial drivers have a minimum proficiency in English.
In a March 2 email to Larry Minor, the FMSCA associate administrator for policy, SBTC president James Lamb stated: “If the agency’s policy is still to not place truck drivers who do not speak or read English out-of-service in accordance with the Department’s motor carrier safety regulations on qualifications to drive, we request you please change the policy back to placing such drivers out-of-service in the interest of public safety.”
Minor acknowledged receipt of Lamb’s email on March 3, but made no comment.
Tragic Accidents
In a series of emails to Duffy, USDOT and DOGE, Lamb has referenced accidents where drivers who were allegedly not proficient in English were at fault and that those accidents resulted in deaths.
On March 13, a commercial driver was arrested after an accident where five people died and 11 were hurt in a crash involving at least 17 vehicles, including semi-trucks, on Interstate 35 in north Austin. In a March 18 email from Lamb to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Michael Kuppersmith, Lamb noted that there had been a report raising the question of the driver’s English proficiency.
“Perhaps NHTSA might chime in on this SBTC request to OIG regarding English Proficiency in the interest of public safety,” Lamb said in the email.
According to the arrest affidavit, driver of the truck, Solomun Weldekeal Araya, was charged with multiple charges of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. Araya claimed his brakes failed, but commercial vehicle inspectors found no mechanical issues with the truck. Records showed Araya had multiple previous hours-of-service violations and prior hazardous moving violations while operating commercial vehicles.
There have been no official statements from any of the agencies investigating the accident regarding whether or not the driver’s ability to speak or read English proficiently was a factor in that accident. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the crash.
In 2021, a Florida jury ruled that two trucking companies were complicit in the 2017 death of an 18-year-old honor student, awarding the family of the late Connor Dzion a total of $1 billion in damages.
The driver reportedly could not read English, so the flashing electronic signs that were put up miles before the standstill, warning drivers to be prepared to stop, were not understood.
In a March 19 email to Duffy, Bradbury and other USDOT OIG officials, Lamb referenced a March 16 crash where a Washington state trucker, Borys Bakhtiarov, was charged with homicide by vehicle.
“Enough, Mr. Secretary,” Lamb said in the email. “Please do something.”
According to an evidentiary affidavit, Bakhtiarov’s Freightliner crossed from the westbound lane on Interstate 80 in Carbon County through a guardrail and a cable barrier and crashed into a red Freightliner in the eastbound lane. The crash seriously injured the other truck’s driver and killed the co-driver in the sleeper area of the cab.
While a language interpreter attended Bakhtiarov’s court hearing, there have been no statements by investigators regarding his ELP.
Petition for Reconsideration of Re-Audit of 2002 CDL Standards Audit
In a separate March e-mail to several employees of Office of Inspector General for the Department of Transportation (OIG) Lamb asked the OIG to revisit the 2002 CDL Standards Audit.
“Today would be a great day to reconsider SBTC’s request you launch a follow-up audit to the 2002 Inspector General CDL Standards Audit of FMCSA and again encourage USDOT 23 years later to finally compel the states to enforce the Federal CMV Driver Qualifications requirements by testing for English Proficiency during CDL Knowledge Testing,” Lamb said in the e-mail.
Lamb previously requested a reconsideration of the audit on Feb. 17 in an e-mail to Chuck Ward, USDOT principal assistant inspector general for auditing and evaluation. Duffy was also copied on the e-mail request.
FMSCA Guidelines
According to FMCSA guidelines, motor carriers are required to ensure that commercial drivers can “speak and read English satisfactorily to converse with the general public, understand traffic signs and signals, respond to official questions and make legible entries on reports and records.”
In a June 16 FMSCA memorandum, FMSCA removed the requirement to place drivers out of service for English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations and changed the industry’s standard for determining non-compliance with the ELP requirements.
SBTC Proposed Bill
On March 12, the SBTC board voted to propose to Congress a new bill, “Standards Affirming Fluency in English (SAFE) Motor Carrier Act of 2025.”
Part of the bill relates to proficiency in English. That section of the bill reads:
“The states (shall be required) to test for English proficiency during Commercial Driver License (CDL) knowledge testing to confirm drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMV) can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records. This requirement shall not be waived by the Secretary and the Secretary shall require department enforcement personnel and the states to place out of service any CMV driver found to not be able to read or speak English while operating a CMV.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
