Can Truckers Read?
Mexican truck debate evades English question.

By Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of English First
July 25, 2001 10:00 a.m.

here has been considerable sound and fury in Congress lately over the issue of Mexican trucks being allowed on American roads. Yet little has been said about whether all drivers of American trucks actually speak English, let alone Mexican truck drivers.

Any resident of the United States who wishes to drive a truck over a certain size is first required to obtain a Commercial Driver's License, known, redundantly, as a CDL license. One qualification for a CDL license, according to 49 CFR 391.11, is that the applicant

[c]an read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.

End of story, right? Not really. It turns out the federal government is not enforcing this law at all. A quick trip via the Internet to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulatory Guidance on this law reveals the following:

§383.133 Testing Methods

Question 1: May States administer the CDL knowledge and endorsement test in foreign languages or in other than a written format?

Guidance: Yes.

If a truck driver has so much difficulty with English that he must take the CDL test in another language, there is good reason for concern over his ability to understand an unusual warning sign while speeding along a highway in an 18-wheeler.

If this wasn't bad enough, it also turns out that the federal government does not encourage states to do anything to actually verify a CDL applicant's claim that he speaks English:

§383.73 State Procedures

Question 1: Does the State have any role in certifying compliance with §391.11(b)(2) of the FMCSRs, which requires driver competence in the English language?

Guidance: No. The driver must certify that he or she meets the qualifications of part 391. The State is under no duty to verify the certification by giving exams or tests.

Given that the federal government has taken so little interest in the ability of American truck drivers to read English, it is not unexpected that neither supporters nor opponents of Mexican trucks on American highways have raised the language issue. They should.