A coalition of labor unions, educators and community leaders in the Salinas Valley launched a mobile pilot English program for Class A truck drivers, aiming to protect their livelihoods as a new federal language rule raises fears of license suspensions.
On Aug. 7, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving to codify guidelines that enforce English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers into a new rule. This means future administrations will not be able to weaken ELP requirements, the same way the Obama administration did in 2016 when it directed roadside inspectors not to place CMV drivers out-of-service solely for failing English proficiency evaluations.
Instead of pulling drivers off the road immediately, inspectors issued administrative citations, allowing drivers to continue their trips. In April 2025, Duffy announced steps to rescind the Obama-era policy.
Teamsters 856 representative Erik Larsen says the effort for an English learning pilot program began in October 2025, after reading about the changes in the federal regulations. The union convened local drivers from companies including Taylor Farms, Dole and D’Arrigo Bros.
According to Larsen, drivers were alarmed to learn that if they are stopped and cannot communicate in English, their licenses would be suspended. They would be required to go to the DMV and take a test in English to be able to get back on the road.
CHP’s two-part roadside ELP evaluation includes about 15 verbal questions in English and a sheet of 25 traffic signs, from which a driver must correctly identify at least four in English.
“They have been working 20-plus years as truck drivers in the Salinas Valley. They know the rules of the road,” Larsen says. “We don’t think it’s fair to punish these drivers simply because they struggle with English.”
With support from Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA), Hartnell College, the Salinas Valley Adult Education Consortium and the California Labor Federation, drivers can learn English using the app Cell-Ed, developed with about $150,000 from UC Merced’s Futuros Campesinos program. It gives practice questions a CHP officer might ask.
The pilot launched on June 28 and now includes about 60 drivers from across the Salinas Valley.
Gonzales resident Rogelio Aceves, 57, is one of them. “As truck drivers we are busy all day and there is no opportunity to physically go into a classroom setting to learn,” he says in Spanish. “I open [Cell-Ed] and learn during my lunch break or on Sundays when I don’t work.”
Originally from Jalisco, Mexico Aceves has been working as a truck driver for D’Arrigo Bros. for almost 30 years. He works about 45-50 hours a week, with days starting at 7am.
“We are worried because this is our livelihood,” Aceves says. “This is what feeds my family and many of my colleagues’ families.”
The pilot program combines app-based modules with in-person roleplay at the Teamsters Union Hall, where local leaders such as Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo help simulate CHP stops. The next registration event for drivers is at 10am Sunday, Sept. 27 at the Teamsters hall in Salinas.