The story continues unabated, with increasingly decisive twists and turns for B1 operators in the United States; there are no longer just warnings, but actual cases of trucking drivers who have been removed from service for failing to meet the English-speaking requirement .
June 25, the date set by the administration of Donald Trump , President of the United States, to strictly implement the measure, marked the beginning of a stricter phase.
“In the last week, we’ve already started to see outages, something we hadn’t seen before,” confirmed Israel Delgado, vice president of the Northwest Region of the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation (Canacar) in an interview .
Since the provision was announced, the industry knew it needed to act urgently. In Delgado’s words, companies were forced “to urgently seek different means to begin operator training .”
The reason is simple: without support, many could be left “out-of- service.”
And that scenario is already underway. Inspections in Texas , and to a lesser extent in California, have begun to include observations stating that the driver is “unable to communicate in English,” Delgado explained.
While these warnings do not yet carry an immediate penalty , they do anticipate that, in a second review, the operator may be removed from service if they do not demonstrate progress or ongoing training.
“The warning doesn’t have an immediate consequence, but rather warns us that a second inspection could result in the vehicle being taken out of service,” said Delgado, who also noted that they have already detected specific cases of sanctions.
To date, there is no official count of how many operators have been reviewed or sanctioned. However, Delgado confirmed that contacts have been made with U.S. government agencies to compile this data. “We do not currently have this information,” he stated.
What is clear is the challenge. According to estimates, around 80% of operators still lack sufficient English to handle these inspections. Therefore, the call to action is not only for drivers, but for the entire industry.
“If companies don’t help operators comply with this rule, what we’re going to see is a lot of outages,” he warned.
Some are already responding, from in-person and virtual training to the use of technological tools to accelerate learning, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based approaches.
Furthermore, he anticipated that not only could more cases of suspension be seen, but also possible financial penalties.
“Starting today, we anticipate we’ll begin to see an increase in these types of rules or sanctions, out-of-service, and possibly financial penalties,” he explained.
Language is no longer an added value, but rather part of the minimum qualifications. Speaking English is now the entry pass for operating on the other side of the Mexican border.
The numbers don’t lie. The change is significant. In the state of Wyomingalone , between October 2023 and September 2024, 410 violations related to drivers’ lack of English proficiency were documented, according to US government data . Although not all of those cases involved B1 drivers.
Meanwhile, across the border, the exchange of goods continues unabated. From January to April 2025, trade in goods between Mexico and the United States exceeded $285 billion , according to figures from the government of Mexico . More than a number, this daily flow represents thousands of operators crossing, delivering, returning, and keeping two economies that depend on each other moving.
But while the United States tightens entry restrictions, Mexico is experiencing its own paradox. According to the International Road Transport Union (IRU) , the country closed 2024 with more than 99,000 operator vacancies . Given this situation, some see these restrictions as an opportunity: if operators who fail to cross return to domestic routes, they could begin to close a gap that has remained unresolved for years.
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