By Noah Zahn
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — A group of Wyoming legislators voted Monday to sponsor a bill aimed at enforcing English-language proficiency requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers operating within the state.

As members of the Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee discussed the bill, they focused on driver accountability, while removing provisions targeting motor carriers and cargo owners.

The legislative push mirrors national scrutiny on CMV drivers and language skills, demonstrated by Wyoming U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman’s drive to enforce similar policies at a national level.

Following an April executive order from President Donald Trump, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration instituted new guidance requiring officers to test drivers if a language deficiency is suspected. This could occur if a driver is pulled over at a weigh station or a port-of-entry facility. 

In Wyoming, which serves as a major national trucking corridor along Interstate 80, the implications of this enforcement are significant. 

Wyoming Highway Patrol officials reported that they placed 497 drivers out of service between June, when enforcement ramped up, and mid-October. This activity prompted state lawmakers to consider codifying and strengthening enforcement at the state level.

Currently, placing a driver out of service means the driver must remain parked until a qualified, English-proficient driver arrives.

The initial bill draft, modeled after an Oklahoma statute, sought to define English proficiency as the ability to converse with the public, understand traffic signs, respond to official inquiries and make entries on records. The draft included stiff financial penalties and logistical requirements, proposing a $1,000 civil fine for a driver’s first violation and a $3,000 civil penalty on the motor carrier.

During the committee discussion, Wyoming Department of Transportation Director Darin Westby emphasized the need for significant amendments and apologized that his department had not highlighted those sooner.

WYDOT and WHP officials strongly discouraged provisions related to the civil penalty against carriers and the mandate for law enforcement to seize and hold commercial vehicles and their cargo, saying they are unsure how they would enforce those penalties on an operator at this moment.

“Not to say that we don’t disagree that it’s the motor carrier who is hiring the individual who is breaking the law … but at this point, they’re working on that on a federal level to ensure that there’s some penalties on the carrier, as opposed to the operator,” Westby said.

Capt. David Wagoner of the WHP said it would be impossible to enforce those sections, especially considering Wyoming’s harsh weather and vast distances. He said officers often couldn’t sit with a truck for 12 hours waiting for a company representative to arrive, especially in a blizzard or when responding to multiple crashes.

“The enforcement on the front end (of the bill draft) and interaction with the driver and allowing all law enforcement peace officers within the state to enforce that is very good,” he said. “A lot of the stuff on the back end, though, we have a lot of concerns with.”

The committee also wrestled with penalties and federal alignment. 

Wyoming Trucking Association President and CEO Kevin Hawley, while proud of the state’s law enforcement, supported mirroring the Code of Federal Regulations language to avoid issues of subjectivity and potential federal funding threats if Wyoming’s law was too strict compared to the national level.

“What we’re seeing on the national level is by enforcing the rules that are on the books, those brokers are now taking it very seriously because they don’t want the loads held up. They don’t want the owners of the cargo calling them, saying, ‘Why is my load late? Why do I have these fees and penalties?’ So, it is the brokers’ job, when they’re involved, to vet the trucking companies and the carriers,” he said.

Lawmakers also debated the severity of the initial fine. 

Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, moved to lower the first offense fine from $1,000 to $200, but that failed. Supporters of the fine argued that the original amount was necessary for safety and to ensure compliance.

“I’m kind of done with being nice and lenient to these folks. I think we’re talking about road safety,” said Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs. “And believe me, the word will get out between these truck drivers that when you travel through Wyoming, you better well be complying with our laws.”

However, the committee adopted several other amendments.

The definition of English proficiency was amended to directly reference federal rule, eliminating specific definitions outlined in the original draft.

Provisions imposing a $3,000 fine on the carrier and requiring law enforcement to hold vehicles and notify cargo owners were struck from the bill draft.

Finally, the bill maintained a two-tiered penalty structure for the operator, though altered from the original draft. As it is now written, a fine of $1,000 and immediate prohibition from operating the CMV within the state will follow the first violation. If caught operating under prohibition, the driver is guilty of a misdemeanor upon conviction, subject to an additional fine of $1,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than 90 days.

Despite some public testimony suggesting that the state should do more to hold carriers, shippers and brokers accountable for knowingly hiring nonproficient drivers, committee members decided that tackling corporate liability and infrastructure needs was too complex to handle on short notice.

The committee voted 11-1 in favor of sponsoring the bill, sending it forward for consideration during the upcoming budget session, set to begin in February.

Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, cast the only vote in opposition, while Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, and Rep. Reuben Tarver, R-Gillette, were excused.