More than 3,000 truckers have been taken off the job in the U.S. since strict English language proficiency (ELP) requirements implemented by the Trump administration came into force in late June.

USA Today reports that, as of August 24, Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming, Iowa and Arizona are among the states that have removed the most truck drivers from service, with Texas leading the way at 350. Although enforcement is largely in the hands of individual states, the Trump administration has made it clear that it would seek to withhold highway safety funding from any state that doesn't comply.

Under the new rules, safety inspectors and law enforcement agencies have been directed to initiate roadside inspections and routine traffic stops for commercial trucks, employing instructions in English, and then issue an ELP assessment if it appears the driver hasn't fully understood them. Employers are then required to remove from service any driver who fails an assessment, until the violation can be corrected. 

Read More: New English Language Rules for Truckers Threaten to Deepen Staffing Crisis

According to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, nearly 4% of the country's CDL license-holder workforce has limited English proficiency. Dating back to the Obama administration, drivers were allowed to use any number of language aids during traffic stops and inspections, including interpreters, smartphone translation apps and cue cards. Those aids are no longer permitted under the Trump administration's ELP requirements.

On August 21, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced a pause on issuing temporary H-2B work visas to foreign commercial truck drivers, following a deadly crash in Florida involving a foreign-born, California-licensed trucker. The truck driver in the incident has been accused of making an illegal U-turn that led to the deaths of three other drivers just outside of West Palm Beach on August 12.

Roughly 1,500 H-2B visas were issued to truck drivers during the most recent fiscal year, the Associated Press reports, accounting for less than tenth of a percent of total U.S. truckers. The pause will not impact B-1 visas, which allow Mexican and Canadian drivers to enter the U.S. briefly to transport goods back and forth across the border.