DALLAS — On Texas roads today, truck drivers who remain within state boundaries are still exempt from the English proficiency rule enacted federally earlier this summer.
The Trump administration reinstated enforcement of the long-standing federal requirement in June, mandating that drivers be able to communicate with officers during traffic stops and read highway signs at weigh stations. The Obama administration had stopped enforcing the rule in 2016.
Why Texas drivers remain exempt has raised questions — especially after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Department of Public Safety to close the loophole in a Sept. 4 directive.
“There seems to be roadblocks at DPS,” said Shannon Everett, who leads American Truckers United. “Our concern has just been that we feel the federal law preempts s