English-proficiency enforcement picture remains unclear

Since English-proficiency enforcement returned on June 25, there has been skepticism on the part of truckers whether enough is being done.

The latest data released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that out-of-service orders for violating the English-proficiency standard are increasing.

According to research by the OOIDA Foundation, the August enforcement data shows a jump in out-of-service orders of more than 2,000. The total number of out-of-service orders issued from June 25 through the end of August totaled 3,408.

There is some question surrounding English-proficiency violations, however.

Data from the start of enforcement through the end of July showed 7,688 violations. The August data released by the agency showed only 6,726 violations since the start of enforcement – a drop of 962 violations.

It’s not uncommon for government agencies to adjust data for reporting glitches or additional reporting coming in from states. That may be little comfort for those looking for hard numbers.

Andrew King, director of the OOIDA Foundation, said that it could take a few more months to really see what’s going on.

In the meantime, Texas leads all states with 1,949 violations issued. But its out-of-service rate lags at 14.3%.

To the state’s credit, through the end of July, its out-of-service rate was just 1.1%.

Arizona comes in second with 483 violations and a 39.3% out-of-service rate.

Arizona’s neighbor, New Mexico, has numbers on the board starting in August with 41 violations and a 2.4% out-of-service rate. New Mexico was one of the states called out by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for not enforcing the English-proficiency standard in August.

Not surprisingly, the higher out-of-service rates happen in non-border states, rather than border states. South Dakota leads all states with a 100% out-of-service rate on all 28 of the English-proficiency violations it’s written.

Oklahoma and Arkansas, two states that pursued state-level English-proficiency laws, also turned in robust out-of-service rates of 90.2% and 72.9%, respectively.

It’s important to remember this data is from June 25 through the end of August. In the data world, that makes it a fraction of the full picture. Enforcement training and plans could still be refined in some states. Not all states report data to FMCSA as quickly as others, and adjustments are frequently made to data for a variety of reasons.

Thus, while these numbers give truckers a snapshot of what is happening in English-proficiency enforcement, remember what King said: It could take a few more months before the picture is clear. LL