Trump’s English proficiency exams make trucking safer, industry leader says

President Donald Trump earlier this year signed an executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to be able to pass an English proficiency test. That reversed guidance from the Obama administration that allowed drivers to use technology like translation apps to communicate.

Between the beginning of June and mid-October, the U.S. Transportation Department says 345 commercial drivers in Arizona failed the English proficiency test and had been pulled off the road; that was the fourth most in the country, behind Texas, Wyoming and Tennessee.

With The Show to talk more about this is Tony Bradley, president and CEO of the Arizona Trucking Association.

Full conversation

MARK BRODIE: Can you sort of explain, what does this English proficiency test entail?

TONY BRADLEY: Yeah, I think first and foremost it’s good to clarify that there’s a difference between English language proficiency and English fluency. What proficiency is meant to cover is that when a driver’s out on the road, they are often stopped and asked about their load or given a safety inspection. And so that driver needs to be able to clearly communicate or understand the instructions given by law enforcement as their rig is being inspected.

A great example under the previous guidance memo, when an officer would say to touch their brakes in order to inspect the brakes, the driver may not have known that that’s what they were instructing them to do. And so oftentimes they were let go without doing that full inspection. So what this new reversal does is say if the driver needs to be proficient in English, that way we can do safety inspection.

BRODIE: When do these checks tend to happen along a route?

BRADLEY: So they happen at what everybody would think is a port of entry. So when you enter a new state, there are ports of entry, where drivers pull over and can go through a variety of different checks, whether it just be paperwork or whether their equipment’s being checked. Or also it can happen at roadside.

So trucks driving down the road, they can be pulled over for any reason to have a safety inspection, and they can happen there as well.

BRODIE: And it sounds like, as you’re saying, there’s the difference between proficiency and fluency. Like a driver doesn’t necessarily need to know how to order a meal at a restaurant. They need to know the words that relate specifically to the vehicle they’re driving and the load that they’re carrying. Is that right?

BRADLEY: That is correct. It’s the load that they’re carrying, the vehicle that they’re driving, the instructions, the road signs that are out on the road, the dynamic signs. For instance, if there’s a detour, those are all safety related issues. And so they have to be proficient in the in the trade, in the terms of the trade.

And so those are what that includes. Again, it doesn’t mean, yes, like you said, understanding a paragraph in a book. It’s related to safety, it’s related to trucking, it’s related to their load, where they’re coming from, where they’re going, and then again the equipment that they’re driving.

BRODIE: Will drivers generally be asked the same questions? And I’m asking because there’s been some concern about these tests being maybe a little subjective and leaving a lot of discretion up to the inspector about whether or not the driver actually understands what they’re being, being asked or not.

BRADLEY: Unfortunately, there is a level of subjectivity. And that disparity can happen from state to state, officer to officer. I believe the states work to train their officers to their standards. But while they are subjective, there are certain standards. For instance, a driver can be pulled over and the first question is, “Do you speak English?”

If they say no, then they’re going to be subjected to the test. If they say yes, then they will continue to move forward until the officer determines that they’re not able to administer their safety inspection, at which point they may be administered the English Language Proficiency Test, which has a variety of road signs.

I don’t know the exact amount, but let’s say 30 signs. The officer will pick six or so out of there and then determine whether or not that driver understands what those road signs are.

BRODIE: So there has been some conversation after President Trump signed this executive order earlier this year that it was in some way related to his immigration crackdown and his deportation program. Is that your understanding of what’s going on here?

BRADLEY: I think there’s certainly an interpretation that that’s why it happened. But I can tell you, since the guidance memo during the Obama administration, my conversations with law enforcement have been very concerning because there’s drivers all throughout this country that don’t speak English. Again, if you’re under that truck and you’re telling the driver to touch their brakes, they need to be able to understand that.

And with the translation app, that simply wasn’t satisfying the requirements of those safety inspections. So again, those drivers were often left to go down the road without their equipment being inspected. So it was a concern from industry.

The English language proficiency requirement has been in existence since we’ve had commercial trucking. So that while probably well intended, it just didn’t work in reality.

BRODIE: Are you finding that there are trucking companies in Arizona that are specifically trying to train their drivers — maybe especially those who are not native English speakers or aren’t fluent in English — to at least understand the words that they need to know, the concepts they need to know to safely do this job and to pass the inspections?

BRADLEY: I would say, yes, that is a fair assessment. Again, the English language proficiency never went away, that requirement. Trucking companies try and train their drivers to make sure that they understand the rules of the road, they can read those road signs and that they can safely deliver those loads. My members are very concerned about everybody getting home safe on the road, and English language proficiency is a part of that.

If a driver happens to get what we call an out of service order because an agent, a law enforcement officer said that they aren’t proficient in the language, they’ve got programs, many of them have programs to try and teach them what those words are.

BRODIE: Tony, before I let you go, I’m curious about the effect of this number of drivers being taken off the road. I mean, trucking is not one of those industries in Arizona that has had a surplus of drivers. So is there a concern about supply chains and companies being able to fulfill their orders?

BRADLEY: You know, first and foremost, we’re always concerned about safety. And so that that’s going to be at the top of mind for everybody. Again, if a driver is taken off a road because of English language proficiency, many companies are going to either try and rehabilitate that driver and teach them language, or they’re going to exit the industry.

Right now we’re at the end of a 3-year freight recession, so we do have more capacity than is needed because people simply aren’t buying as much stuff as they were post-pandemic.