Federal fines loom for CA, WA, NM over English trucking rule

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars in federal funding if they do not enforce new English-language requirements for commercial truckers, as an investigation into a deadly Florida crash intensified scrutiny of how the states implement a safety rule that took effect in June under a presidential order. The warning comes as officials examine whether the rules are being applied consistently and whether lapses in enforcement may have contributed to unsafe conditions on the nation’s highways.

The investigation was sparked by a crash in which a foreign truck driver, Harjinder Singh, made an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway, killing three people. Duffy described what he called significant failures in how the three states are enforcing the English-proficiency standards, which require truckers to recognize and read road signs and communicate with authorities in English. He said the driver involved in the Florida crash should not have been granted a commercial driver’s license given his immigration status, underscoring the broader safety rationale behind the rule.

In California, roughly 34,000 inspections...