More than 7,000 truck drivers in the United States have been placed out of service this year for failing mandatory English proficiency tests, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday.
The move has particularly affected Indian and Indian-origin truck drivers, many of whom hail from Punjab and Haryana. It is estimated that around 150,000 Sikhs work in the US trucking industry, with nearly 90 per cent employed as drivers.
In a social media post, Duffy said that as of October 2025, 7,248 drivers had been removed from service, citing real-time violation data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The figure marks a steep increase from the 1,500 reported in July, signalling a sharp rise in roadside enforcement since the reinstatement of the rule earlier this year.
According to the North American Punjabi Truckers Association, approximately 130,000 to 150,000 Indian-origin drivers from Punjab and Haryana operate across the US, thousands of whom have been impacted by the enforcement.
The New Indian Express reported that the new regulations have caused significant disruption among the community.
The crackdown follows a series of deadly accidents involving Indian truck drivers. One such incident in October involved a multi-vehicle crash on a California highway, in which an Indian driver was accused of killing three Americans.
Another fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike claimed three lives when a tractor-trailer, allegedly driven by an illegal immigrant from India, made a dangerous U-turn. Reports revealed that the Florida driver had repeatedly failed the commercial driver’s licence test before obtaining a California CDL.
Transportation Secretary Duffy said the move was part of the Trump administration’s commitment to enhancing highway safety. “Commercial truck drivers must speak and understand English to operate or they will be taken out of service,” he said.
According to FMCSA’s national inspection database, at least 5,006 English language-related out-of-service violations had been recorded through October, with numbers rising as more states ramped up enforcement.
Under federal regulation 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), all holders of Commercial Driver’s Licences must demonstrate sufficient English skills to communicate with the public, interpret road signs, interact with authorities, and maintain accurate records.
President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order, followed by Transportation Department directives, mandates the immediate removal of drivers failing English language tests. The policy took effect on 25 June 2025.
Critics, however, have condemned the policy as discriminatory. Industry leaders and advocacy groups argue that it unfairly targets bilingual and immigrant drivers who have safely operated for years.
“We have drivers who’ve been safely operating for years, but now they’re being put out of service because they can’t respond in English fast enough during a roadside stop,” said Adalberto Campero, CEO of Pharr, Texas-based Unimex, in an interview with FreightWaves. “It’s not a safety issue it’s a communication style issue,” he added.
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The Trump administration’s recent Interim Final Rule (IFR) has also drawn strong criticism for its potential to strip various classes of immigrants of their Commercial Driver’s Licences. The Sikh Coalition, a US-based advocacy group, accused the administration of targeting immigrant workers.
“This change is not being made on the basis of drivers’ English language proficiency or other qualifications,” the group said in a statement. “It is simply an argument that non-domiciled CDL holders are inherently dangerous to the public an effort to remove approximately 194,000 of them from the workforce.”
Meanwhile, data from FreightWaves shows that Texas currently holds the largest number of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licences permits legally allowing foreign drivers to operate in the United States.
As the enforcement continues, thousands of Indian-origin drivers remain uncertain about their livelihoods, with industry observers warning that the crackdown could worsen driver shortages and disrupt US supply chains.
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