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By Kelsey Brown – Times Union – July 23, 2025<\/p>\n
NEW BALTIMORE\u00a0\u2014 Scott Caswell\u00a0has been driving trucks for most of his life.<\/p>\n
Caswell, 54, started in freight but now works in construction, hauling salt in the wintertime and sand during the other seasons throughout New York and occasionally New Jersey for M. Romano and Son Trucking.
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Industry experts say that the trucking industry is experiencing a labor shortage. Some experts are worried that this shortage could be exacerbated by the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s recent strengthening of its English language requirements.
\nCaswell, who\u2019s been driving for 35 years, isn\u2019t too concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf everybody had full staff, you probably wouldn\u2019t be as busy,\u201d Caswell said. \u201cThe small guy would suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
In May, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signed an order strengthening the English language enforcement for commercial truck operators. This followed President Trump\u2019s signing of an executive order in April that directed Duffy to reinstate it, saying it was \u201cessential to the strength of our economy, the security of our Nation, and the livelihoods of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n
While English proficiency requirements for drivers predate the Trump administration, the order instills new guidance with harsher penalties. Drivers who are not proficient in English will be penalized with an out-of-service violation. When a driver is taken out of service, the driver and the company that employs them have to make sure the language violation is addressed before the driver can return to work, the DOT\u00a0told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Zach Miller, vice president of government affairs for the Trucking Association of New York, expressed concern for the economic impact this could have on drivers and the economy. The majority of truck drivers are paid per mile, rather than per hour.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s time, it\u2019s cost and it\u2019s a truck and\/or driver off the road. When a truck and\/or driver are not on the road, the company is losing money. It\u2019s simple economics,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Safety inspectors and law enforcement partners will initiate roadside inspections in English, the U.S. Department of Transportation told the Times Union. Roadside inspections may be triggered by things like a faulty brake light or as part of routine inspections that happen at weigh stations. If an inspector believes that the driver does not understand their initial instructions, the inspector will issue an English language proficiency assessment, the DOT said.<\/p>\n
The assessment includes \u201ca verbal\u00a0driver interview conducted in English to determine whether a driver can respond to official inquiries and a highway traffic sign recognition assessment to ensure the driver can interpret critical safety signage,\u201d the DOT said.
\n\u201cAmericans are a lot safer on roads alongside truckers who can understand and interpret our traffic signs. This common-sense change ensures the penalty for failure to comply is more than a slap on the wrist,\u201d Duffy said\u00a0in a statement.<\/p>\n
Miller explained that the English language requirement has been on the books since the early 1970s. During former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration, inspectors were instructed not to put drivers out-of-service for English language proficiency violations. Drivers were able to use interpreters, smartphones and cue cards during interviews in the past, Miller said. But those methods have\u00a0now been barred.<\/p>\n
Miller understands why being able to read road signage is necessary, noting that especially in upstate New York, a winter storm can come in a moment and it\u2019s important that a driver can decipher a notice of a detour or a road closure.<\/p>\n
But the timing for this heightened enforcement is less than ideal to Miller, who said the industry has been grappling with a labor shortage for more than a decade. The\u00a0American Trucking Association\u00a0estimated\u00a0that the shortage of qualified drivers reached 78,800 in 2022, which they estimate could\u00a0double by 2030\u00a0due to\u00a0the aging workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of breathing room for the fleets right now,\u201d Miller said.
\nAn American Transportation Research Institute report released this month\u00a0found that the average age of a trucker is 47. It\u2019s been difficult to find younger replacements for older drivers aging out of the industry, Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to get more and more people excited and trained and placed in our industry,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a concern about something that would deter people from going into this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t statistics on how many people for whom English is not their first language make up the trucking workforce. But Miller estimated that this demographic makes up a \u201csignificant amount\u201d of the total workforce. For those who are immigrants, who didn\u2019t attend college, or who are reentering society from incarceration or military service, Miller said trucking can provide workers with family-supporting careers.
\n\u201cFrankly, you do not need to be born in America to do this job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe history of trucking is a history of diversity,\u201d Miller added. \u201cIf you go back 100 years, any wave of immigration that we\u2019ve had in this country has gone into this trucking industry, which is amazing. I want to see that continue, and we expect to see it continue. But there\u2019s always that concern of, \u2018Is this going to deter people from entering?’ \u201d<\/p>\n
Miller did emphasize that the order is strengthening the English language proficiency requirement, not requiring drivers to be fluent in English. Drivers need to be able to articulate in English the functions of their jobs and the road signs.<\/p>\n
Dennis Kennedy, executive director of communications and marketing for Hudson Valley Community College, explained that HVCC partners with a CDL school to offer career training. Students are required to take a written exam and a road test with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, so a level of English proficiency is required to complete the program.<\/p>\n
While the CDL programs do not have direct partnerships with HVCC\u2019s English as a Second Language programs, Kennedy said that there has been \u201csignificant growth\u201d in the community college\u2019s ESL program, which offers four different levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt covers everything from reading and writing to listening and speaking,\u201d Kennedy said. The fall ESL classes begin in mid-September. There is a new scholarship fund through the college president\u2019s office to help with the cost of the program so it\u2019s accessible to more people, regardless of income, he said.<\/p>\n
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