- 5 days ago
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Chief Counsel Jesse Ellison announced that California, New Mexico, and Washington were not in compliance with English Language Proficiency requirements for commercial vehicle drivers. Duffy threatened to withhold federal funding from these states if they did not comply within 30 days.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hey, everybody. Thank you for coming out today. By way of introduction, I want to introduce you
00:09to Jesse Elison. He is the chief counsel for our Federal Motor Carriers mode here at DOT.
00:16As we start, I just want to take a moment and thank President Trump for his leadership
00:20in the executive order that he made clear that we're going to put safety and America first
00:26on our roadways. We appreciate his leadership. By way of taking a trip down memory lane,
00:35it was in May that DOT put out a rule that indicated that we were going to take out of service
00:46truck drivers who were not proficient in speaking the English language. We announced that in May and
00:52it did go into effect at the end of June. Now, when we did that, there was a lot of press
00:58that complained to us that we were being unfair to people, that we were being mean to people.
01:04And what we said was, no, this is a safety issue. Making sure drivers of very heavy 80,000-pound rigs
01:12can speak the language is truly a critical safety issue. And some complained about it.
01:18We implemented it at the end of June. And all of us in America saw what happened in Florida,
01:25where we had an individual who we tested this individual after the crash, but no doubt could
01:33not speak the English language and could not understand road signs when he was operating that
01:40very deadly rig. And so we at DOT and federal motor carriers, we are not going to tolerate states
01:50that don't comply with the rules that come from this department. And so we are going to, first of all,
01:58we've identified several states that have not been in compliance. That would be Washington, California,
02:07and New Mexico. Those are the three states that have not complied with this rule. Which, by the way,
02:13this driver in Florida had received a CDL in Washington, California, and was pulled over in
02:21July for speeding and no doubt couldn't speak the English language. And law enforcement
02:28government in New Mexico did not take his rig out of service. So this one driver touched all three
02:35states. Based on our review, they are not complying with our rule. And so phase one for us, which I'm
02:43announcing today, is we are going to give these states 30 days to come into compliance with truck drivers
02:53speaking proficiently the English language. Or we're going to look at federal funding that they receive
03:00under the motor carrier safety assistance program. So I believe California is 20 million or 30 million?
03:0830 million. Washington is 10 million. And New Mexico is 7 million. Jesse will confirm that in a second. But
03:16these are millions of dollars. By the way, this is phase one. There are other actions that we can take to make
03:22sure states comply. And hopefully in the next 30 days, we won't have to withhold any money from them.
03:28But if they don't commit compliance, we will start with withholding this money. And then we will take
03:34additional steps to guarantee compliance. And this is not, just to be clear, this is not just about saying
03:41we have some obscure rule that we want them to comply with that truck drivers speak English proficiently.
03:48This is about keeping people safe on the road. Your families, your kids, your spouses, your loved
03:56ones, your friends. We all use the roadway. And we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs,
04:04semis, can understand the road signs, that they've been well trained, and that when they're pulled over by
04:13law enforcement, they're stopped by law enforcement, or there's a crash, and law enforcement responds,
04:18they can effectively communicate what they have on their rig. There may be a history that they have to
04:24be able to communicate to law enforcement when they're pulled over or there's an accident. And if
04:30they can't do that, that creates a significant issue for the traveling public. And so this is step one. And
04:38again, we hope there will be compliance in the next 30 days. If not, we'll take additional steps. With
04:42that, I do want to turn it over to our Chief Counsel from Motor Carriers, Jesse Elison, to talk a little
04:50more about what our plan is and how we're going to move forward. Jesse.
04:53Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Before I explain the enforcement actions that FMCSA will take,
05:01I want to emphasize the two dates that you mentioned. May 20th is the date that the Secretary
05:08directed FMCSA to implement a new policy. And part of that policy included the assessment to determine
05:17whether a driver could meet the English language proficiency requirement. And by June 25th, when CVSA,
05:25the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the alliance of the state partners,
05:30put the new out-of-service rule into effect. They shared that policy with the assessment as part of
05:39it with all of the state partners. And so all of the states have had this information since May 20th
05:48and at the latest since June 25th. Today, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be
05:57serving a notice of proposed determination of nonconformity to the states of California,
06:03Washington, and New Mexico. And this notice proposes a finding of noncompliance with the
06:09Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, commonly referred to as MIC-SAP, with the qualifying conditions.
06:17This notice, the MIC-SAP program is FMCSA's main formula grant program, and it provides financial
06:28assistance to states to reduce the number of severity of crashes and injuries and fatalities.
06:36MIC-SAP funding requires the states to adopt and enforce laws and regulations compatible with the Federal
06:43Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which includes the English language proficiency requirement.
06:50And let me just quote what that requirement is that the Secretary described just a minute ago.
06:55But commercial drivers must be able to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse
07:02with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language,
07:07to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records. The states must enforce
07:15ELP requirements to maintain MIC-SAP funding. Even before the tragic accident in Florida taking three lives,
07:25FMCSA reached out earlier this month to all of the state partners and asked a couple of questions. We were
07:34reviewing the enforcement data and we wanted to know what your plan was and if you did not have a plan,
07:41what actions you are taking to deprioritize your non-enforcement actions. And so we took that feedback
07:49and reviewed that in combination with the data that we were reviewing and part of that data that I'll share with you
08:00right now. But those answers were critical in determining these notices to California and Washington and New Mexico
08:10because they didn't have a plan or they hadn't communicated with us the steps that they would take to deprioritize
08:16what they weren't doing. What we found in determining California between
08:22the enforcement date of June 25th and August 21st, so through last week, was that California has done
08:30about 34 investigations where they actually cited a violation and one of those involved the English
08:37language proficiency requirement. Very importantly, California inspected over 20 drivers who had
08:50previously been cited in other states for an English language proficiency violation and were taken out of
09:00service. So what that means is subsequent to that violation, they drove again in California and
09:07California did not honor that previous violation. In Washington, there have been over that time
09:16period from June 25th to August 21st about just over 5,000 inspections that resulted in a violation,
09:23six of which did have the ELP requirement, two of which were not properly done within the commercial
09:28zones. But like California, Washington had at least four drivers that come into their state who had
09:36previously been cited for an ELP requirement violation and put out of service and they did not respect and
09:45honor that previous violation. In New Mexico, over that same time period from June 25th to August 21st,
09:53New Mexico has provided zero violations out of over
09:58over about 5,000 inspections. And like Washington and California, drivers came into New Mexico about at least seven drivers who had previously been cited and put out of service for the English language proficiency requirement and yet New Mexico, just like Washington and California did not honor that previous violation and returned them to out of service.
10:27Just to underscore this point, if an out of service violation could be various citations, it could be brakes, no state is going to, officer is going to look at a previous citation of a brake violation in a state a month before they're doing their inspection and then just not inspect the brakes and just let that driver
10:55go on their way. And yet all three of these states are doing that. And they're allowing people to be on the road that were taken off the road.
11:05So all three of these states will have 30 days from the notice that we send out today to respond to the agency and to provide a corrective plan. And after that 30 days, FMCSA will make a final determination of nonconformity and impose the appropriate sanctions that can be up to withholding all of the MCSAP funding. And as the Secretary said, that's just over
11:35I think 33 million in California, 10 and a half million in Washington and I think 7 million in New Mexico. We anticipate all of the states coming in compliance. We do not want to penalize the states. We want the states to comply and to enforce the English language proficiency requirement, which is directly related not only to the safety of the citizens of their states, but the citizens of all of the states around all of the United
12:05states with drivers driving into those states with drivers driving into those states. And that covers the notices.
12:12Wonderful. This is a quick note. We have so many great people who work here at DOT. Jesse and I have worked arm in arm for the last seven months together. You haven't met Jesse yet. You met him today. But this is the hard work and the dedication that our team puts in to make sure our rules and regulations are appropriate to keep people safe. I'll take your questions in a moment.
12:40But again, we have drivers that were taken out of service because of English language proficiency. They go to one of these three states and they're pulled over again. So their records are run by law enforcement. Of course, that's what law enforcement does.
12:58And so law enforcement in those states sees this is a flashing light. Listen, this person, this driver was taken out of service in a different state because they couldn't speak English. And what do they do? Nothing. They turn them loose, put them back on the road.
13:15We've also asked for plans from these three states to which they have not provided them, which has indicated to us that there has not been a willingness to comply with this rule. And so this is this is phase one. We do want compliance. We do. We don't want to take away money from states, but we will take money away and we'll take additional steps that get progressively more difficult for these states.
13:40There's a lot of great tools that we don't want to use. There's a lot of great tools that we have here that we don't want to use. We just want to keep drivers safe, not in just red states.
13:47We don't. This is we. Americans drive in all states and California, Washington and New Mexico, Americans drive in and they deserve to be safe in those states like in every other state.
13:58So with that, I will take a couple of your questions. Yes.
14:01I'm with Placo.
14:03You represent this announcement's phase one. What are the steps that you'd like to take to see this before?
14:09So this is the only phase I want to take. And we're giving 30 days for compliance because I don't want to take away their money. I don't. I want them to get these resources. But if not, this will be phase one.
14:22I'm not going to lay out all of the phases that we have, tools that we have to garner compliance, but we have wonderful tools that will make it very challenging for states to do business if they don't comply.
14:38Add a follow-up. So 19 states and the District of Columbia don't consider immigration status when issuing commercial driver's licenses. Is DOT looking into ways to make those states consider immigration status when issuing commercial driver licenses? And if so, how?
14:53So, again, Jesse might have a different answer or will supplement mine. We need congressional assistance on this. But, of course, I do think we should be a U.S. citizen or be legally in this country if you're going to drive.
15:11We have a number of other issues that we deal with with our partners to the north and to the south that we are trying to unpack and make sure our laws are complied with.
15:22As I've found out very quickly from Jesse, this gets very complicated very quickly.
15:28But we are putting every asset in place to make sure that we get compliance and get anyone who drives in America to follow the law. Jesse, do you have a?
15:40I would just add that the rules are very clear on what's required of issuing a CDL and a non-domiciled CDL.
15:47And those requirements are a very important part of the national audit that we're doing with the issuance of those licenses.
15:56Yes.
15:59Where are you at with the audits?
16:01We're making progress, and we'll have some updates in the very near future. But we've done a number of states. We still have a lot of states to do. But we do, and we'll have an update in the very near future on that.
16:19In some of my reporting, it's come to my attention that there are, with the ELP, that can only be enforced by CVSA inspectors. In states like Wyoming, I was listening to a hearing last week, they're trying to pass a state law because a state policeman or sheriffs can't pull someone over for violation of an ELP.
16:41And it's happening. They're going in different areas that aren't in the interstates. Is that correct? Is that your understanding as well?
16:47No, that's not correct. Both the federal enforcement and the states can enforce ELP violations and do.
16:57What's really important is that the CVSA, or the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, they're the ones who set the standards for the North American out-of-service criteria.
17:07And that's why it was significant for them to start that date of enforcement on June 25th.
17:14They don't have to be a federal inspector and do an inspection to pull them off the road. It can be a sheriff's?
17:21Most of our partners are state and local partners that are performing the ELP assessments.
17:30And just real quick, the assessment actually only is triggered when there's a challenge to communicate.
17:37It's not something that's just always done.
17:39But if there's a challenge in communication, then there's a two-step assessment process that is part of the policy that we issued and that CVSA incorporated into their guidance.
17:53One last question.
17:54Okay, so the violations of the out-of-service orders that you mentioned in the three states, do you know where those, like, non-domiciled, you know, work visa CDLs?
18:04So those issues are separate issues.
18:08I do have an idea on some of those issues, but those are separate, the CDL and the visa and immigration.
18:16And so we are addressing those issues, and in the future we'll have more to say about those.
18:22But right now we're sending out notices limited to English language proficiency, the English language proficiency requirement and the non-conformity with that requirement.
18:37Hi, I'm from EJ.
18:40My question is, what methods of standardization are used for the ELP assessments?
18:45And what's the methodology established?
18:46Yeah, that's a great question.
18:50And so on May 20th, when the secretary directed FMCSA to issue the guidance, that's when it was established.
18:58And so it's uniformity, there's a lot of attention paid to that.
19:05And so part of, and again, this is why I mentioned these two dates, is part of that guidance includes a two-step assessment to determine whether or not that requirement, 391.11.B1, is met.
19:19So 391, part 391, is all of the driver qualifications.
19:23And this is one of the ability to sufficiently converse in the four categories that I read.
19:31That sets the standard, and that's what the assessment follows, on whether or not a driver can meet those four categories that are mentioned in the requirement itself.
19:41And so there's question and answers in our guidance portal that's available to companies to ensure compliance.
19:51But CVSA took the FMCSA policy in that assessment and used that exactly.
19:57And that's what most of the states are using today.
20:00And that's, does that answer your question?
20:05That does, I'm curious if there's any enforcement mechanism to ensure that the methodology is applied sort of in a equal, you know, standardized way across.
20:14So there are specific sets of the questions for both parts of the assessment.
20:20And so, but there, but it is up to CVSA and the states to implement the policy.
20:28But there's absolutely enough emphasis on uniformity in their, in their doing that.
20:35Thank you, guys.
20:36Just so, and as, as we leave, just I'm going to make one last point.
20:41I'm, I'm, and this is something we're looking at and working on.
20:46When someone, an individual comes in to take their test to become a commercial driver, and they do a skills test, had my CDL for 30 years, I think.
20:58It's, it's a process in which we all go through.
21:02And at that point, it would be clear that this driver doesn't understand all the road signs and doesn't speak the language.
21:11But miraculously, they're passing the skills test.
21:14That I think any common sense analysis would say, well, that doesn't make sense.
21:20How could that happen?
21:22And so, just to note, for a future reference, we are going to be looking at that as well.
21:27How are these tests being administered?
21:29And are they, are they following the rules?
21:34And is there some gaming of the system that we have to address?
21:39I would just tell you all, stay tuned.
21:41We are going to, again, we have been on this before you all were covering it.
21:46We are going to stay on it because, again, this is about keeping our American roads safe.
21:53And that we lost three people for no purpose, no reason, but for a driver who should not have been driving a big rig.
22:05That's unacceptable.
22:07And I, and I do hope, it's my wish, that these states understand the common sense nature of what we're doing,
22:16and they comply, and they become good partners.
22:19That would be my hope.
22:20And because this is, this is, again, this is not about politics.
22:23This is about doing the right thing by way of the American people, and, and keeping individuals and families safe as we all use our roadways.
22:33So with that, thanks all, thank you all for coming out.
22:35Stay tuned for more developments as we continue to, to, to push these common sense policies, not just at federal motor carriers,
22:42but also across all our modes here at DOT.
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