Transportation secretary orders sweeping CDL test changes in trucking crackdown: 'English only'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday announced sweeping changes to commercial trucking regulations, including a new requirement that all commercial driver’s license (CDL) exams be administered exclusively in English.
Speaking at the Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters in Washington, D.C., Duffy and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Derek Barrs said the move is aimed at strengthening oversight and ensuring drivers can read road signs and communicate with law enforcement.
"What we're doing is implementing a rule that will say there's one language in which you can take your test — It's English only," Duffy said. "You take the test in English. You can't speak English, you can't read English — You're not going to do well on the test."
Duffy noted that several states, including California, currently offer CDL exams in multiple languages.
"In the state of California, you can take the driver's test, the skills test and the proficiency test — you can take it in 20 different languages," he said.
In addition to the English-only testing requirement, Duffy said the DOT will ask states to disqualify drivers who fail to meet federal English proficiency standards.
"What we're going to do in the future is ask states to disqualify your license," Duffy said.
Duffy also criticized what he described as lax oversight under the Biden administration, accusing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of not enforcing rigorous standards for certifying commercial driving schools.
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Duffy alleged that some commercial driving schools — which he referred to as "CDL mills" — lacked proper curriculum or training. The DOT has shut down 7,000 of these schools, according to Duffy.
"We should expect that we should be safe, and that those who drive those 80,000-pound big rigs that they're well-trained, they are well qualified and they're going to be safe," Duffy said.
Federal officials recently conducted more than 8,200 inspections under Operation SafeDRIVE, taking 704 drivers out of service. About 500 were cited for failing to meet English proficiency standards.
The announcement follows several high-profile crashes involving drivers who were in the country illegally.
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Earlier this month, Bekzhan Beishekeev, a truck driver from Kazakhstan who entered the U.S. in 2023 using the CBP One app, allegedly killed four people in a crash in Indiana. He was issued a CDL in Pennsylvania.
In another case last August, Harjinder Singh, who was issued a CDL in California, allegedly made an illegal U-turn, jackknifed his truck and caused a crash that killed three people. He was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide.
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The DOT did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz, Peter D'Abrosca, Bill Melugin and Garrett Tenney contributed to this report.