Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

I don’t think there’s been a day pass where I haven’t run into an immigrant driver. Okay, I haven’t actually run into them, only in passing at truck stops. And I firmly believe everyone here should be able to understand English driving around here, but this is a very bad idea – The headline projects that the problem is from Hispanic drivers, when most of the English problems with drivers are Russian, Polish and other eastern bloc countries.

Habla Ingles? U.S. truck cops on the lookout for non-English drivers
07/31/2007
WASHINGTON — U.S. roadside traffic cops are being told by transport authorities to place out-of-service any truck drivers with low English language proficiency.

A guidance issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration outlines how to deal with commercial drivers operating in the U.S. who do not properly understand, read, or communicate in English, as required by the DOT.

We don’t have picture only signs. There are a ton of things on the road that are only in English, such has restrictions, detours and special instructions.

This report came out of Canadian trucking news, their response to Canadian drivers -

Drivers in Canada need not worry about the English requirement. For better or worse, there’s no such regulation on this side of the border.

But… It’s not an American DOT law it’s a CVSA (Commericial Vehicle Safety Alliance) requirement. This same thing was going on in 2005. And the problem then was – What if Quebec starts enforcing the same thing? What happens when Mexico opens up for American drivers (and it will, it’s only a matter of time)?

This rule is at the officer’s discretion on how well the driver understands English. Some drivers from Kentucky and West Virginia could get put Out of Service for the same rule.