What the English proficiency rule means for freight brokers and shippers

Since June 25, 2025, a commercial driver who can't communicate in English at a roadside inspection can be placed out of service on the spot. In the nine months that followed, inspectors recorded more than 60,000 English proficiency violations and issued 19,045 out-of-service orders, according to FMCSA's own figures.

When that happens, the truck stops with your freight on it. Carriers own driver qualification, but brokers and shippers own the stalled load and the question that follows it: what did you check before dispatch?

This post covers what the rule requires, what changed in 2025 and 2026, who is responsible for what, and what a fair, documented English check before dispatch looks like.

The English proficiency rule asks drivers to read, speak and understand English well enough to do the job

The standard in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2)

Under 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2), a driver must be able to read and speak English well enough to talk with the public, understand highway signs and signals, respond to official questions and fill out reports and records. The rule is a driver qualification, the same category as age, licensing and medical fitness.

It isn't new. What changed is how it's enforced.

How inspectors assess English proficiency at roadside

According to FMCSA's August 2026 proposed rule, the roadside assessment has two parts. The inspector interviews the driver in English, then asks the driver to recognize and explain highway traffic signs.

A driver who can't do both can be cited and, under current enforcement, placed out of service. The proposal also keeps a limited exception for drivers operating within the border commercial zones.

Enforcement went from rare to routine between 2025 and 2026

For years, an English proficiency violation was a citation, not a reason to stop the truck. That changed in mid-2025 and the numbers moved with it.

Source: FMCSA, "English Language Proficiency; Out of Service Criteria," Federal Register, Aug 10, 2026.

What's law today and what's still proposed

Today: the qualification standard in 391.11(b)(2) is law, and roadside inspectors have been placing drivers out of service for failing it since June 25, 2025. The August 2026 proposal would codify that enforcement tolerance in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations so it's applied the same way everywhere.

Still proposed: the NPRM itself, Barron’s Law and several other bills, including the Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act, Connor’s Law and the Commercial Motor Vehicle English Proficiency Act. Rep. Gill’s office says Barron’s Law would impose enhanced penalties on motor carriers that knowingly use ineligible drivers. The bill text hasn’t been posted yet.

Carriers qualify drivers, but brokers and shippers still carry the risk

The carrier's duty

Driver qualification belongs to the motor carrier. FMCSA's proposal says it plainly: carriers "are ultimately responsible for ensuring the driver is qualified to operate a CMV prior to the next dispatch."

What an out-of-service order does to a load in transit

An out-of-service order stops the driver, not just the paperwork. The load sits wherever the inspection happened until the carrier sends a qualified driver, or the broker arranges recovery with another carrier.

For the broker, that means a missed appointment, recovery cost and a call to the shipper explaining why. For the shipper, it means a high-value load parked on a shoulder or in an inspection lot with no clear arrival time.

The "what did you check?" question after Montgomery

In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II (May 14, 2026), the Supreme Court held that federal law doesn't preempt state negligent-selection claims against freight brokers. Brokers can be sued over the carriers they choose.

E3's view: When a load goes wrong, the first question is what was checked, and when. That's why we think every load needs a single source of truth: the same check for every driver, done the same way every time, with an auditable record of who was checked and what the result was. "We asked the dispatcher" isn't a record.

A carrier attestation or a phone call doesn't settle the question

The two most common answers today are a carrier attestation and a quick phone call. Both leave gaps.

An attestation covers the carrier's policy, not the person on this load. A rep's phone call isn't consistent from one rep to the next, isn't recorded, and puts the rep in the position of improvising a test they aren't trained to give.

Neither tells you the person on the phone is the person driving. Carrier vetting tells you who owns the truck, not who's driving it. A dispatcher, a relative or someone using a real driver's identity can answer a call just as easily as the driver can. That gap is the same one behind most freight fraud.

What fair, defensible English proficiency verification looks like before dispatch

If a broker documents an English check as part of its SOP, the check has to be consistent enough to defend and fair enough that drivers don't mind taking it. We think that means six things:

• Same questions for everyone, drawn from an approved bank, so no rep improvises.
• Scored the same way every time, against a set pass mark.
• Tied to the authenticated driver, so the answers come from the person who’s actually taking the load, not whoever picked up the phone.
• Logged to the load, with the result and the evidence behind it.
• The broker keeps the final say, so the check informs the decision rather than replacing the carrier's qualification process.
• About a minute of the driver's time, on the phone they already have.

How E3's English proficiency check works

E3 builds the English check into the same driver authentication flow brokers already run, so it isn't a separate test, a separate app or a separate SOP.

1. Same text link. The driver gets the authentication link by text, with no app to download.
2. Two short spoken questions, answered on video. The driver answers two questions from an approved question bank, recording their face and their spoken answers inside the same flow. The face in the video is matched with the CDL.
3. Scored against a set threshold. The answer is transcribed and scored the same way for every driver.
4. Logged to the load's audit trail. The result, score, transcript and video attach to the load record.
5. Go or no-go where your team works. The result appears in Slack or Teams, and the broker decides.

Because the face in the video is matched with the CDL, a dispatcher or a friend can't quietly answer for the driver, and the video stays on record with the load. That gives your compliance team something a phone call never does: a record that the person who answered is the person on the CDL, what they said and how it was scored.

Drivers complete it. E3 sees a 96% driver response rate and authenticates more than 5,000 drivers a day, with zero stolen loads across 650,000+ authenticated loads. For how E3 compares with other driver authentication tools, see eight questions that separate driver vetting tools.

Frequently asked questions

Can a truck driver be placed out of service for English proficiency?

Yes. Since June 25, 2025, inspectors can place a driver out of service for failing the English proficiency standard in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2). FMCSA reported 19,045 such orders between June 25, 2025 and March 19, 2026.

How is a truck driver's English proficiency tested at a roadside inspection?

Roadside inspectors test English language proficiency (ELP) in two steps: an interview with the driver conducted in English, and a highway sign check where the driver identifies and explains traffic signs, according to FMCSA's August 2026 proposed rule. A driver who can't do both doesn't meet the standard in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) and can be placed out of service on the spot.

Is Barron's Law in effect?

No. Barron's Law was introduced on Sept. 30, 2026 and is a pending bill. The underlying English proficiency qualification and roadside out-of-service enforcement are already in effect.

Does an English proficiency check replace carrier qualification?

No. The carrier remains responsible for qualifying its drivers. A broker's check is a documented step in the broker's own SOP, and the broker keeps the final say on the load.

Know before dispatch, not at the inspection

An English proficiency problem found at roadside costs a load, an appointment and a hard conversation with the shipper. Found before dispatch, it costs a minute and leaves a record your compliance team can point to.

See how E3's English proficiency check fits into your SOP. Book a demo.