After months spent refusing to enforce English language proficiency (ELP) as an out-of-service violation for commercial drivers, California quietly reversed course in December, and now may have some of the toughest ELP enforcement in the country.
Additionally, a new final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Wednesday dashed hopes the state and its non-domiciled CDL holders might have had for resumption of CDL issuance for most non-citizens.
[Related: FMCSA issues Final Rule banning non-domiciled CDLs almost entirely]
Now not only does California enforce ELP as an OOS violation, it's actually gone a step further -- the state licensing agency follows up on drivers' ELP OOS violations by requiring them to come into an office and take an ELP assessment or risk losing their CDL.
The state did not go down without a fight, however.
Beyond repeated spats and name-calling between Governor Gavin Newsom and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, California ultimately may have lost up to $200 million for failure to comply with federal rules. ($40M for lack of ELP enforcement, $160M for non-domiciled CDL irregularities.)
[Related: FMCSA stops California from reissuing thousands of non-domiciled CDLs]
But on December 23, during a particularly rough fight over the holidays about revoking licenses for some 17,000 non-citizens, the state finally got on board with ELP, according to a memo from the state's Office of Administrative Law: "Department of California Highway Patrol, pursuant to 1 California Code of Regulations section 100, amends its regulations to adjust the revision date of the current Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, which is incorporated by reference."
Famously, only federal inspectors, mostly operating in border commercial zones at ports of entry, issued ELP violations in California as the state-federal spat played out in 2025, averaging roughly 70 violations a month for ELP in total written during inspections the state. 74% of all those violations were recorded in border zones, generally non-OOS. That's according to Overdrive sister company RigDig's analysis of federal inspection and violation data, which shows a big increase so far in 2026 for ELP violations.
Now with CHP on board, and only partway through January in RigDig's accounting, California-based inspectors issued more than 400 ELP violations, a more than 300% increase over the 2025 monthly average. (Less than a quarter of the 2026 ELP violations were non-OOS border zone infractions.)
That's a big shift for roadside ELP enforcement in the Golden State.
In July of last year, CHP said enforcing ELP as an OOS violation was "not part of California law."
California typically adopts CVSA's updated OOS criteria annually every April, but during the push-and-pull with U.S. DOT it seems to have made a special effort in December. In doing so, the state finally abandoned its totally unique interpretation of ELP regulations for commercial drivers.
[Related: California says English tests at roadside for truck drivers not needed after $40M DOT penalty]
A September letter from state transportation officials delivered to U.S. DOT argued that roadside ELP tests and other enforcement was unnecessary, because the state requires CDL skills testing in English.
The letter noted California believed "there is no federal requirement that English language proficiency be established through 'roadside inspections.' ... California properly enforces this requirement through its commercial driver’s licensure procedures."
Just four months later, the state changed its entire outlook on ELP assessment and enforcement.
This month, a CHP spokesperson confirmed the law enforcement agency is indeed administering roadside ELP tests, and making sure a qualified driver steps in if the first driver fails. On the driver credentialing side, too, California DMV is conducting follow-ups.
In mid-January, the state began sending notices to state-licensed drivers with ELP violations telling them their CDLs were in question.
This mid-January-dated notice obtained by Overdrive was confirmed as authentic with California DMV. It shows an order to appear for a follow-up appointment at the Fresno DMV branch for a driver after an ELP violation.
As shown above, letters to drivers with ELP violations from California DMV's Legal Affairs Division, Driver Safety Branch, set dates for the driver to appear for an “English Language Proficiency Assessment” to take an “Oral Law Test.”
In the driver's case shown above, failure to appear on the scheduled date of January 28, according to the letter, would result in suspension of "your driving privilege" the following day.
A California Driver Safety Branch DMV representative confirmed ELP assessments were ongoing.
By officially tying CDL eligibility to ELP after the issuance of a credential, California might now have some of the toughest English-language rules for commercial drivers in the U.S.
[Related: No ELP out-of-service orders in 'border commercial zones': FMCSA]
