FMCSA Proposes Writing English-Proficiency Out-of-Service Rule Into Federal Regulations

In August 2026, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed to make the out-of-service penalty for English-language proficiency violations a permanent part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2026, under docket FMCSA-2026-0826, with comments due October 9, 2026.

How enforcement got here

The English-proficiency requirement in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) is not new; FMCSA says requirements of this kind date to 1936. But from 2016, under an FMCSA policy that followed a 2015 change by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, inspectors cited drivers for the violation without placing them out of service.

That changed after Executive Order 14286, signed in April 2025. FMCSA issued new roadside guidance in May 2025, and CVSA added the violation to the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria effective June 25, 2025.

The effect shows up in FMCSA's numbers. From January to June 24, 2025, inspectors issued 7,812 English-proficiency violations, 33 of which led to out-of-service orders. From June 25, 2025, through March 19, 2026, there were 60,399 violations and 19,045 out-of-service orders. All of those orders came outside border commercial zones; the 44,354 violations written inside the zones did not result in drivers being sidelined.

What the proposal would do

Responding to an October 2025 petition from CVSA, FMCSA proposes to add the English-proficiency rule to the regulatory definition of an out-of-service order and to add a new paragraph to section 391.11 saying a driver in violation must be placed out of service immediately.

The proposal also writes in a limited border exception that FMCSA set out in an April 16, 2026, policy memo and that CVSA adopted into its criteria on April 19. A driver stopped in a U.S.-Mexico border commercial zone whose current trip does not take the driver into the United States outside the zone would be cited but not placed out of service. FMCSA said the exception "would not apply when there is evidence that the driver intends to operate, or has been operating, a CMV in the United States outside the border commercial zones." Inspectors would use bills of lading, dispatch records and other shipping documents to decide.

Trucking Dive, citing FMCSA's guidance, gave examples: a load from Laredo, Texas, to Nuevo Laredo would fall under the exception, while a load from Nuevo Laredo to San Antonio would not.

FMCSA said codifying the rule matters because states must adopt rules compatible with the FMCSRs to stay eligible for federal safety grants, so the penalty would stand even if CVSA's criteria changed later. Trucking Dive quoted a DOT release saying, "By turning this guideline into a codified rule, future administrations will not be able to weaken ELP requirements."

FMCSA estimated that about 9,000 drivers a year in border zones would be placed out of service under the clarified approach, costing carriers about $14.4 million a year, based on $800 per day of downtime and two days to get a replacement driver to the truck.

What it means for drivers and fleets

For most fleets, day-to-day enforcement would not change; the out-of-service penalty has applied since June 2025. Codifying it would make it harder to reverse and would bind every state's enforcement program.

Carriers running cross-border freight should expect inspectors to review trip paperwork closely and should keep dispatch records and bills of lading accurate. Carriers remain responsible for confirming drivers meet the English-proficiency qualification before dispatch.