this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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MAGA fans are rejoicing on social media in favor of President Donald Trump's plan to sign an executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to speak English.

Breitbart News reported that Trump would sign the order Monday evening because "President Trump believes that English is a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers." Last month, Trump designated English as "the official language of the United States."

"This is such a big deal! So grateful for this, the roads will be much safer. Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers," posted @coffeegirlvegas.

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[–] DBT@lemmy.world 206 points 1 week ago (3 children)

"This is such a big deal! So grateful for this, the roads will be much safer. Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers," posted @coffeegirlvegas.

Oh yea? You and many others have witnessed many accidents that were due to a truck driver’s inability to speak English?

You dumb bitch.

[–] socphoenix@midwest.social 76 points 1 week ago (6 children)

It’s already part of the federal commercial driver regulations too… so no. No they have not. The most they’ve seen is someone with a heavy accent and maybe broken English.

[–] DBT@lemmy.world 61 points 1 week ago

I’m willing to bet the most they’ve seen is some accidents involving trucks, with no knowledge of what happened or who was driving.

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[–] Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's one of the infuriating things about these people. They'll just make up BS that makes Trump seem reasonable. Trump does this English only thing, and now suddenly non-english truck drivers causing accidents is a thing, something that's been a problem all along and thank Jesus he's finally fixing it. Even though this was never actually a real issue that anyone even imagined before today.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The number of truck drivers whos first language wasn't English who made deliveries for the distributer I worked with recently was high. The number of times that speaking to them came into the scope of their job was 0. They pulled up, backed a truck up at 3:30am once a week and handed us an invoice. They take a nap while we unloaded the back, then they left. Driving through the night doesn't require you to speak, it requires you to be awake and have decent eyesight/perception. They could have been missing their left leg for all we cared. Trucking is like clock work. If you want groceries with the freshest dates in stores when they open, you need as many people willing to drive overnight and early morning workers to get them from the distributors to the stores and on the shelves before anyone wants to wake up.

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[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 113 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Won't this disqualify half his illiterate base

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 47 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (10 children)

to be fair it's about SPEAKING english, not READING english..

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[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 92 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is just an excuse for ICE to pull people over. And since they're a part of the executive branch, they care less about due process and laws.

[–] Xaphanos@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago
[–] nomugisan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 78 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I have a CDL, Class A with X endorsement.

This changes nothing. CDL manuals, exams, and paperwork are all in English. What I think Trump thinks he's doing is banning Mexicans from driving trucks in the US, but this is controlled by a reciprocity agreement between the US and Mexico. Surprise, Mexicans don't have to take American exams for a CDL when they can have a license issued by the Mexican government.

Basically all this is is white supremacist virtue signaling.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 15 points 1 week ago

I would love to see the US go a month without Mexican truck drivers. The UK pulled the same stunt with Polish truck drivers. People were rejoicing at empty shelves and overflowing garbage bins.

[–] Tetragrade@leminal.space 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Nah you're still thinking about it within the the UN/long peace legal framework. They can just do a decree that says no mexicans, and their extrajudidical thugs will take the signal to harass and murder truck drivers.

B-but that's illegal ☝️🤓

Are you going to stop them?

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[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 76 points 1 week ago (7 children)

This is already a Commercial Driver's License requirement. What is the specific issue here?

"Interpreters are prohibited during the administration of skills tests. Applicants must be able to understand and respond to verbal commands and instructions in English by a skills test examiner." CDL Standards

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 48 points 1 week ago

Can't pull someone for "driving while brown", but you can pull someone over for "driving while not speaking English, which I just concluded from you being brown"

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[–] Disaster@sh.itjust.works 57 points 1 week ago (15 children)
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[–] ButteryNickel@lemmy.wtf 51 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That'll surely fix our surplus of truck drivers! /s

[–] flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Good news! With the tarriffs throwing cold water on freight all across the US, we won't need as many truck drivers!

...I really wish I was joking, but the fiance is OTR and freight has already slowed for him. Here's an article from February that talks about how it was already slower than expected.

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[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 1 week ago

yet another thing that has no legal standing and only exists to make the idiots think trump is accomplishing something

[–] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago (10 children)

So the party of small government is going to administer english tests to truck drivers? maybe create some kind of language registry with proficiency levels? sounds kinda woke

[–] radix@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Running the entire economy via a central planning committee is exactly the sort of right-wing free market the GOP voters wanted. I guess? Up is down. The past is alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.

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[–] CBYX@feddit.org 29 points 1 week ago

Good thing we won't need so many of those when supply chains dry up from tariffs!

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago

Trump can't even speak English.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Not sure about other states, but in mine, the ability to read and understand English is a requirement for getting a license...

Now you could make an argument that's not the same as speaking English, and my rebuttal is "should we ban mute, or speech-impared people from getting a CDL"?

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[–] waz@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (6 children)
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[–] Dorkyd68@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

As always another trump "policy" that'll backfire spectacularly

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[–] greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Who the fuck is supposed to drive the trucks then? I live in (upstate) New York and it seems like even up there a significant population of Mexican truck drivers.

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[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Executive orders are not laws. He can direct how the law in enforced, but he can't just unilaterally define new laws

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[–] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 week ago

That’ll help the shortage of drivers for sure 🙄

[–] Darkard@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ah yes, those unqualified drivers that are being hired as professional truck drivers. It's their lack of English skills that are the problem.

How was their totally legitimate and law abiding employer supposed to know about their lack of ability or driving licence? They are the real victims here, being forced to hire them and all.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I guess he's not wrong

However this is useless as you need to speak English to get a commercial license

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[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The same people who said they would remove big government that tries to control everything and everyone

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[–] hellfire103@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

US economy crashing again in 3...2...1...

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[–] WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

So…. Let’s get this straight… he is signing orders to make things happen that have been happening for almost a century now??

What’s next, an executive order to make air breathable??

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I'm assuming it's just a way to sneak literacy tests into something. You can speak english, but can you speak it well enough to pass a subjective test administered by someone who hates you for being hispanic?

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[–] Tilgare@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

Oh definitely not - he has been attacking the Clean Air act.

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[–] UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So cops pulling people over for a Language check?

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