Trump order requires truckers to speak English

Truckers who learned English as a second language are concerned they may lose their jobs if they make a mistake or speak with a heavy accent while under questioning. Some have worked to improve their fluency by taking classes and watching instructional videos

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At a truckingschool in New Jersey, students are maneuvering 18-wheelers around traffic cones. Other future drivers look under hoods to perform safety checks, narrating as they examine steering hoses for cracks and leaks. An instructor glides between speaking Spanish and English as he teaches Manuel Castillo, a native Spanish speaker, how to inspect a school bus. They're using a printed script of English phrases to practice what Castillo would say during a roadside inspection. Brush-ing up on English has taken on new urgency for future and current truck drivers after President Donald Trump issued an executive order saying truckers who do not read and speak the language proficiently would be considered unfit for service.

"A driver who can't understand English will not drive a commercial vehicle in this country. Period," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last month while announcing enforcement guidelines that take effect on Wednesday.

Updated US Department of Transportation procedures call for enhanced inspections to determine if commercial motor vehicle operators can reply to questions and directions in English, as well as understand highway traffic signs and electronic message boards.

Truckers who learned English as a second language are concerned they may lose their jobs if they make a mistake or speak with a heavy accent while under questioning. Some have worked to improve their English fluency by taking classes, reciting scripts and watching instructional videos.

"If it's not the language that you prefer to use daily, you may get a little nervous and you may feel, 'What if I say the wrong thing?'" said Jerry Maldonado, chairman of the board of the Laredo Motor Carriers Association, a trade association in Laredo, Texas, that represents approximately 200 trucking companies. "It's going to be, at the end of the day, the interpretation of the officer, so that makes people nervous."