The US transportation industry has been scrambling to meet a new regulatory requirement issued at the end of June, making non-compliance with English Language Proficiency (ELP) an out-of-service violation for commercial vehicle drivers.
Tech.co’s latest survey has the data proving this impact: A spike of 10% of logistics professionals cited adapting to regulations as their top priority this quarter. That’s an increase of more than double the amount who said the same thing just one month earlier.
It makes sense that ELP regulations would be a top concern, given that they further limit the number of drivers qualified to get behind the wheel of a fleet vehicle in 2025. The industry has been seeing a shortage of drivers for years already.
Logistics Pros Prioritizing Regulatory Adoption Doubles in One Month
The new data comes from a Tech.co survey conducted on July 16th. With 10% of logistics professionals saying that they see regulatory adaptation as their biggest priority, it’s a big jump up from the 4% who said the same in June.
The new data suggests many firms are now urgently playing catch-up to ensure their drivers meet the new communication and reading standards.
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Another new announcement may have added some fuel to the fire, too: On July 1st, the DOT announced an audit into state commercial driving licenses issued to non-US citizens.
1,212 Drivers Are Out-of-Service for ELP Violations Already
Fleet managers are right to be concerned.
Recently analyzed data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has revealed the exact number of ELP-related out-of-service orders in 2025 so far: 1,212 commercial vehicle drivers have been impacted, finds CDLLife.
The specific requirements that drivers must meet? According to the law, they must “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 record.”
What to Know About the New ELP Regulations
The new rule took effect on June 25. It was first announced a mere three months earlier, in April. That gave fleets a short runway to ensure that all their drivers were qualified to meet the new regulation and might explain the sudden spike.
That said, this wasn’t the first time that ELP has qualified as a reason to put commercial drivers out-of-service: The new regulation is a reinstatement.
In 2016, a FMCSA memo told law enforcement to stop placing truck drivers out-of-service for ELP violations. Now, that decision is once again being reversed by an even more nationalism-driven government administration.
