Experts say lawmakers created the exemption decades ago — and only the Legislature can close it.
TEXAS, USA — The Trump administration reinstated enforcement of the long-standing English-proficiency rule this summer, requiring drivers to communicate with officers during traffic stops and read highway signs at weigh stations. The Obama administration had stopped enforcing the rule in 2016.
But WFAA has discovered the requirement does not apply to every commercial truck driver in Texas.
An internal May 20 email from Maj. Omar Villarreal, who oversees Texas DPS Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, told inspectors that English violations and out-of-service orders “will only apply to motor carriers engaged in interstate operations.”
That means drivers working for companies that never leave Texas are exempt — a carve-out created decades ago in the Texas Transportation Code.
Trucking attorney Lin McCraw says lawmakers granted the exemption when industries like logging and rock-hauling struggled to fill short-haul jobs.
“That’s a policy decision,” McCraw said. “It would require a legislative change, but it’s absolutely something they can do.”
Trucking safety experts say the exemption undermines safety.
“It’s the inspectors … we all feel kind of a little hypocritical that we led the charge in all this and we can’t do intrastate,” said Steve Wilhelms, a North Texas trucking safety expert. He is also first vice chairman of the Texas Trucking Association Safety Management Council, but was not speaking on behalf of the organization.
Both Wilhelms and McCraw say non-English-proficient drivers often miss roadside warnings.
“I’ve had wrecks that probably would not have occurred had the driver been English-proficient,” McCraw said.
Data from the trucking analytics firm Bluewire shows more than 3,000 commercial truck drivers have been placed out of service since enforcement resumed in June — as many as 400 of them in Texas.
Federal officials, meanwhile, are pressing states to comply. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy this week warned California, New Mexico and Washington that they risk losing federal funding for failing to enforce the rule. His announcement came after a deadly Florida crash this month involving a driver who had failed English-proficiency tests.
The Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program requires states to adopt laws compatible with federal safety regulations, including the English requirement. DPS told WFAA it complies with federal rules and can pull unsafe drivers off the road, but the agency did not answer questions about the Villarreal email or the intrastate exemption.
Arkansas and Oklahoma passed laws this spring mandating English proficiency for all commercial drivers. Louisiana requires all drivers take CDL exams in English.
In a statement to WFAA Thursday, Texas Trucking Association President and CEO John D. Esparza said when truck drivers can’t understand road signs or electronic signage, “it puts everyone on the road at risk.”
Esparza said the federal guidance is “appropriately within the Federal jurisdiction,” applying to interstate trucking. But, he added, “any changes to intrastate laws are in the purview of Texas lawmakers and would require Texas laws to change” — something he noted often takes time and careful consideration.