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'Making America’s roads SAFE again': US places over 7,000 US truck drivers 'out of service' for failing English proficiency test

Edited By Navashree Nandini

Published: Nov 03, 2025, 15:31 IST | Updated: Nov 03, 2025, 15:31 IST

'Making America’s roads SAFE again': US places over 7,000 US truck drivers 'out of service' for failing English proficiency test

US truck drivers Photograph: (X)

Story highlights

Over 7,000 US truck drivers were taken off the road under Trump’s order enforcing English proficiency for safety. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said it aims to make roads safer. The move follows deadly crashes involving foreign drivers; visa issuance for truckers has also been paused.

After several accidents involving truck drivers in the US, over 7,000 truckers have been placed "out of service". US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the Trump administration has put them out of service. Duffy said that the step has been taken to make American roads safe again. The US had earlier stopped issuing visas for truck drivers. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration has paused all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers. "The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers," he had added.

In a post on X, Duffy said, "7,248 drivers placed out of service for failing to meet Trump’s English language proficiency standards as of October 2025. US Department of Transportation requires commercial truck drivers to speak and understand English to operate a big rig, or they will be taken out of service. This is about Donald Trump and his administration making America’s roads SAFE again!"

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According to the executive order signed by Trump in April, proficiency in English should be a “non-negotiable safety requirement” for professional drivers. “They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English,” Trump had said in the order.

A fatal crash involving a semitruck and an SUV took place on the 10 Freeway in California's Ontario on Oct 22, leading to death of three people. The truck driver was identified as a 21-year-old Punjabi truck driver named Jashanpreet Singh. Preeviously, Indian-origin driver Harjinder Singh was accused of making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike that resulted in three deaths.