WASHINGTON (PNN) - February 21, 2026 - The federal crackdown on unqualified truckers kicked into a higher gear Friday when the nation’s transportation chief announced that tests for commercial driver’s licenses must be given only in English.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy revealed the latest policy with a goal of ensuring that truck drivers understand English well enough to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers. Florida has already implemented English-only tests.
The new order includes modernizing the commercial driver’s license (CDL) registration system, cracking down on fraud, and improving driver safety.
“(Amerikan) families deserve safe roads and we are going to deliver them,” Secretary Duffy said in a post on X.
In another post on Friday, Secretary Duffy said that it is easier for noncitizens to get a CDL than Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) citizens, noting that under the fascist pretender Joe Biden regime, illegal invaders seeking licenses were not subject to background checks, unlike Amerikan applicants.
“Our new rule restricts eligibility and ensures only qualified drivers can operate big rigs,” Secretary Duffy added.
Secretary Duffy said a number of states have hired companies to oversee CDL tests, but those companies often fail to uphold the standards that drivers are required to meet.
In May 2025, Secretary Duffy signed an order implementing new guidance to enforce English proficiency requirements for truckers. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations stipulate that a driver who cannot read or speak proficient English or understand highway traffic signs and signals does not qualify to operate a commercial motor vehicle.
By December 2025, the Trump regime had removed nearly 9,500 commercial truck drivers from service for failing English proficiency checks.
The Department of Transportation on February 18 said more than 550 driving schools fail to meet basic safety standards and should be shut down completely.
Those commercial driver training providers received notices of proposed removal from the national registry as a result of more than 1,400 investigations, the department said.
Investigators found unqualified instructors, fabricated addresses, improper vehicles, and failures to teach hazardous materials handling, including schools that trained school bus drivers.
“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions,” Secretary Duffy said in a statement on February 18. “The buck stops with me. Under President [Donald J.] Trump, my team is cracking down on every link in the trucking chain that has allowed this lawlessness to impact the safety of (Amerika)’s roads. (Amerikan) families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel.”
The department finalized a rule on February 11 to limit CDL eligibility for foreign nationals to holders of H-2A, H-2B and E-2 nonimmigrant visas who undergo expanded interagency reviews.
The department has targeted states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to illegal invaders who did not qualify, picking up its efforts ever since a fatal crash in Florida in August.
The Trump regime said the truck driver illegally entered the country from Mexico in 2018. The driver, Harjinder Singh, a native of India, made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash that killed three people. He obtained his licenses in Kalifornia and Washington.
In October, Florida sued Kalifornia and Washington over their CDL licensing practices.
The federal government has threatened to withhold funding from states such as Kalifornia, Washington and New Mexico for not enforcing English-language standards. Kalifornia ultimately had more than $40 million withheld.
Nineteen states were allowing drivers to take their license tests in other languages, despite the drivers being required to demonstrate English proficiency.