How cabotage, English crackdowns affect Hispanic truckers

Countless news headlines say the Trump administration is taking a hard stance on border issues, particularly with Hispanic laborers. But how is this affecting the trucking industry?

President Donald Trump is pursuing two major crackdowns on fleets’ operations this year: greater enforcement of cabotage laws and renewed English proficiency requirements. The crackdowns have an outsized effect on Spanish-speaking drivers, such as those crossing into the U.S. from Mexico with B-1 visas or domestic drivers who are U.S. citizens.

Executives of some major public trucking companies, including Schneider and J.B. Hunt, suggested that stricter enforcement of laws like cabotage and English requirements could resolve overcapacity and improve pricing dynamics for fleets.

While the extent of enforcement is not entirely clear, the crackdowns have already brought several drivers out of operation. Mexican drivers are certainly being affected by a cabotage crackdown; local news on both sides of the border reported well over 100 visa revocations within the last month.

Crackdown on cabotage in effect

Cabotage, the practice of illegally hiring Mexican B-1 drivers to haul domestic interstate loads, is a growing industry problem. The American Trucking Associations began to call for a crackdown on the practice in March.

Though the federal government has not issued major announcements of a crackdown, Mexico’s trucking industry is experiencing much more intense enforcement.

Customs personnel in July detained 20 Mexican drivers in Calexico, California, for alleged cabotage. According to local news in Mexico, in a single weekend in June, U.S. agents also revoked visas from nearly 100 Mexican truckers for cabotage.

“It was 98, according to our count,” a driver affected by the June crackdown told local news in Spanish. “We knew that we couldn’t work there as Mexicans, but necessity made us take those trips.”

The local outlets reported that, though cabotage was sometimes tolerated in past years, customs authorities are now growing stricter with foreign drivers. The B-1 employment model has been growing in popularity among carriers for years. Many of those carriers direct their B-1 drivers to violate cabotage laws once they cross into the U.S. Some Mexican B-1 drivers feel pressured to make the illegal hauls.

“It’s often known that many companies force drivers to do this,” one Spanish-speaking driver said on social media, warning Mexican drivers to reject companies that ask them to commit cabotage. “This colleague from Mexico that I know … told me that his company practically forced him to do this type of work.”

“The risk is not worth it. He lost his visa,” the driver said. “The company is going to wash its hands, saying it’s going to investigate or see how it can help but is not going to do anything.”

Spanish-speaking drivers react to English requirements

Many Hispanic drivers with limited English proficiency are studying to pass a roadside assessment.

Following Trump’s executive order in April, Duffy’s announcement of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's enforcement in May, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's inclusion of English proficiency to Out-of-Service Criteria on June 25, English fluency requirements for interstate truck drivers are now in full effect.

Drivers pulled over by U.S. Department of Transportation personnel are greeted in English and, if the inspector questions the driver’s English proficiency, are subject to English assessments. Drivers who fail the assessments can incur hefty fines and see their vehicles placed out of service.

Mexican freight industry group Canacar reported that, since English proficiency returned to OOO criteria, it has seen over 40 cases where Mexican drivers’ work visas were withheld. The extent of U.S. drivers placed out of service since June 25 was not yet clear, though several cross-border drivers were placed out of service for lacking English within the first few days.

Some groups estimate that 15% of truck drivers in the U.S. are Latino and that many of them struggle with English proficiency. Canacar estimates that, among drivers crossing from Mexico to the U.S., only 30% would pass an English assessment.

A FleetOwner survey found that industry readers overwhelmingly support English language proficiency enforcement: 94% of readers said that ELP is a safety problem, and 90% said ELP should be added to out-of-service criteria.

According to El País, some Hispanic drivers feel the order is unjust. One Spanish-speaking driver, José Flores, has been trucking for 30 years and is about to retire. Flores told El País he now fears losing his job. Though the driver is able to understand English to a degree, it’s still ambiguous how much English fluency an inspector will expect from him.

“I can read and understand it well enough because my children were born here, but to speak and write it is another thing,” Flores told El País in Spanish. “I’ve never had problems doing what I do. Really, I don’t need to speak English to drive … I’ve never had to hold a large conversation in English. I turn in papers, they check me, and I go on my way.

“I know colleagues who are owner-operators, who have their own trucks and don’t speak much English. What will they do if agents stop them and declare them out of service?” Flores asked. “A carpenter doesn’t need English to measure a piece of wood. For driving, it’s not necessary either … Enough to know signs and some basic things is enough.

“If they gave me a license, it’s because I understood the test,” Flores said. “If I’ve worked here for 30 years, it’s because I know what I do. Why are they telling me now that I can’t work because I can’t explain in English what I do every day?”

Alejandro Morales, a 26-year-old Cuban driver who has been hauling construction materials for two years, shared a similar feeling.

“The only thing you need to do is look at the paper that tells you where you pick up the load and transport it, know how much weight you can carry, and so on,” Morales told El País in Spanish. “You don’t need English because it’s almost all numbers.”

Some other Hispanic drivers, such as Jesús Herrera speaking to Uniradio Informa, see an opportunity for professional development. A video by Noticias Telemundo shows drivers Juan Antonio and Miguel Cerezo, like thousands of others, practicing English during their break periods to pass an assessment.

Groups such as the Libre Institute recently began offering free English classes. The institute told reporters they hoped to teach five to 15 truckers in its latest course. Driver training companies such as CarriersEdge are also developing their own English assessments to help fleets gauge drivers’ proficiency.