At a freight school in New Jersey, students manipulate 18 rounds around traffic cones. Other future drivers perform safety checks under the hood and narrate when checking for cracks and leaks in the steering hose.
A lecturer slides between speaking Spanish and English, and he teaches Spanish-speaking man Manuel Castillo how to check school buses. They use printed English phrase scripts to practice what Castillo would say during a curbside inspection.
The urgency for future and current truck drivers has disturbed them after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order, saying truckers who do not read and speak the language will be seen as inappropriate for service.
“A driver who doesn't know English will not drive commercial vehicles in this country,” Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said last month in announcing law enforcement guidelines that will take effect on Wednesday.
The updated U.S. transportation procedures require enhanced checks to determine whether commercial vehicle operators can answer questions and instructions in English and learn about road traffic signs and e-message boards.
Truck drivers who learn English as a second language are worried that they may lose their job if they make mistakes or speak in accents when they question. Some people improve English fluency by attending classes, reciting scripts and watching instructional videos.
“If it weren’t for the language you wish to use every day, you might feel a little nervous, and you might feel, ‘If I’m saying something wrong?’
“At the end of the day, this will be an explanation for the officers, which makes people nervous.”
This guide is for truck and bus drivers engaged in interstate trade. The Ministry of Transport said it aims to improve road safety after incidents in which truck drivers cannot read signs or speak English.
English requirements are not new
It is nothing new to ask truck drivers to speak and read English, but fines for failing to meet the standards of competence are getting worse.
To obtain a commercial driver's license, the applicant must pass a written test and be able to name parts of the English or truck in English when checking tire inflation, tread depth, lug nuts and coolant.
The revised policy reverses the guidance from nine years ago at the end of the final term of then-President Barack Obama, according to the Federal Automobile Airline Safety Administration. The agency said in 2016 that drivers who found lacking English skills might quote but could not be banned from working. Prior to this, the punishment was placed in a “service status”.
“Our bridges will be hit because drivers don't understand the signs on the bridge, such as height clearance,” said Todd Spencer, president of the Independent Driver Association of Owners and Operators.
Practice English phrases
The Maldonado's Association, in a border city of Laredo, speaks English and Spanish, offers free English classes on weekends to help truckers become more confident about their communication skills.
“Everyone knows what the parking sign looks like,” Maldonado said. “But if there is construction or accidents of five miles on the road, they have to put a sign on it – 'careful, have to exit immediately, the road is closed,' you won't be able to read or understand this, which can be a safety issue.”
Founder Jonathan Marques said at Driving Academy in Linden, New Jersey, a multilingual instructor teaches students how to check vehicle parts in their native language and then explain them in English. He said the school created scripts so that students could practice saying something if they were stopped.
Max recommends students to watch training videos as assignments, while licensed truckers can listen to English apps instead of music while on the road.
Instructor Paul Cuartas helps students prepare, but fears inspectors will now expect truck drivers and bus drivers to have perfect English. “I'm worried because it's even more difficult for all Spaniards right now,” he said.
Castillo, who moved to the United States from Ecuador in 1993, said he had no problem understanding English but had been watching videos to study the industry. “Some words I don't understand, but I'm trying to learn more English,” he said.
Asked if he supports the president's executive order, Castillo said he voted for Trump but disagreed with the president's efforts to deport some immigrants who have not yet committed crimes.
“He made a lot of problems, especially for Hispanics,” Castillo said.
The GTR Freight School in Detroit also offers ESL courses for students. Co-owner Al Myftiu drove a truck after moving to the United States from Albania in 1993. He said he wanted to create a small word that truckers need to learn.
For students with strong accents, “I told them, ‘Slow down and talk slowly, people can understand you, and if you don’t understand something, you can ask.”
How it will work
Curbside inspections can be initiated on issues such as faulty brake lights or daily basis and often performed at weighing stations.
The inspectors guided by the guide suspect that the drivers are not aware of their situation in managing the English proficiency test, which includes interviews and highway traffic sign recognition sections.
In the past, some drivers used translation apps to communicate with federal inspectors. Updated policies prohibit the use of interpreters, smartphones, prompt cards or other aids during interviews.
Several truckers took a break at Flying J Travel Center in New Jersey to say they supported Trump’s orders, adding that drivers who rely heavily on translation programs may not be able to read important signals.
“We were just trying to ask them about the business, just to have a conversation, … they simply couldn’t communicate with us,” said Kassem Elkhatib, one of Flying J’s drivers.
Fear of discrimination
It is unclear how the safety inspector will decide whether the driver knows enough English, as this section of the instructions has been removed from the guidance distributed by the transportation department.
The department informs the car carrier that the driver should be able to answer questions about transport documents, the origin and destination of the trip, and the hours of work.
The Transport Department said a truck driver who stopped the medicine and the company they worked for were responsible for ensuring language violations, and the driver then hit the highway again.
Mannirmal Kaur, federal policy manager for the advocacy group Sikh Alliance, said truck drivers who practice Sikh religion have faced discrimination from hiring and loading docks.
Now they are worried that inspectors make subjective, non-standardized decisions about which of them are proficient in English.
“A truck driver who speaks English enough to comply with federal standards, but maybe they speak in an accent, or maybe they use another word, i.e., inspectors are not used to hearing: Will that person be subject to violations of the English language?” Kaul asked.
