The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) to reflect that, under current enforcement tolerances, a violation of 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) is an Out-of-Service (OOS) violation. This rulemaking would make updates to sections 390.5, 390.5T, and 391.11(b)(2) to reflect that noncompliance with English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements will result in a driver being placed OOS, unless the driver’s current trip would not involve transportation in the United States outside of the U.S.-Mexico border commercial zones.
These changes would align the FMCSR with current enforcement tolerances in the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria which was revised April 19, 2026. DOT has determined that it is appropriate to consider the costs and benefits of this policy change since it is roughly contemporaneous with this rulemaking. FMCSA anticipates that the revision would result in annual costs of approximately $14.4 million for motor carriers.
Between January 2025 and June 24, 2025, 7,812 ELP violations were issued across the United States, with 33 of those resulting in OOS orders. Between June 25, 2025 and March 19, 2026, there were 60,399 ELP violations issued, with 19,045 of those resulting in OOS orders. The change to CVSA’s enforcement tolerances in the summer of 2025 resulted in an increase in ELP violations and OOS orders. The 19,045 ELP violations that resulted in OOS orders all occurred outside of border commercial zones, while the remaining 44,354 ELP violations that occurred in border commercial zones did not result in OOS orders.
According to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Generally, repeated violations issued to a carrier can negatively impact their Safety Measurement System score and lead to various consequences. An OOS order has a more immediate effect in that the carrier would need to find a replacement driver and incur any costs related to the resulting delivery delay. Motor carriers are encouraged to develop hiring practices and procedures to ensure their drivers are properly qualified, and, as is the case with all driver qualifications, are ultimately responsible for ensuring the driver is qualified to operate a CMV prior to the next dispatch. FMCSA does not require that motor carriers train their drivers in the English language, however, motor carriers have the discretion to establish internal training programs or rely on already established training materials.”
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