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ELP violations rank fourth among OOS orders during CVSA event
Organization's 2026 International Roadcheck included revived federal ELP enforcement for U.S. truck drivers
Unsafe brake systems were the most cited OOS equipment violation and no medical card was the most cited OOS driver violation during this year's International Roadcheck enforcement event. (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance via X)
Key Takeaways:
- English-language proficiency violations ranked fourth among U.S. driver out-of-service infractions during the May 12-14 CVSA International Roadcheck.
- Renewed federal enforcement helped elevate ELP violations into the top five, with 361 citations among 54,575 driver inspections and high overall compliance.
- CVSA said inspectors prioritized ELD tampering and cargo securement checks, while brake-system violations remained the leading vehicle out-of-service infraction in the U.S.
Renewed federal enforcement landed out-of-service violations for English-language proficiency among the top five infractions cited for U.S. commercial vehicle drivers during this year’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance International Roadcheck safety blitz.
ELP violations ranked fourth for U.S. drivers during the event, conducted May 12-14 across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The elevation of ELP enforcement into the top five follows guidance advanced last summer by the Department of Transportation to take drivers out of service for violations of the long-dormant guidelines.
Inspectors stopped 54,575 drivers of commercial motor vehicles across North America during the annual Roadcheck event, the CVSA said in an Aug. 25 release. The nonprofit noted that 81% of CMVs and 94% of drivers inspected had no OOS violations.
Top 5 driver OOS violations
Reported during CVSA Roadcheck
- No medical card — 1,072 violations
- Hours of service — 883
- No CDL — 614
- ELP — 361
- False records-of-duty status — 214
A renewed federal ELP enforcement push began in April 2025 when President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for Truck Drivers.” The order reaffirmed Trump’s designation of English as the national language and underscored its use on U.S. highways as a “nonnegotiable safety requirement for professional drivers.” The order said drivers should be able to “read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy followed that directive by reviving a dormant ELP regulation under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The rule requires ELP tests to be administered to truckers who appear during interactions with law enforcement officers to have difficulty speaking, reading and understanding English. CVSA added the ELP standards only to the U.S. driver section of its North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. It noted that ELP violations do not apply in Canada.
This year’s Roadcheck focused specifically on evaluating driver records to identify electronic logging device tampering, falsifications or manipulations. Inspectors focused on reviewing driver’s records-of-duty status along with checking for tampered or phony ELD entries.
“Hiding actual driving time raises the risk of severe highway crashes due to driver fatigue,” CVSA noted.
ELD tampering was the seventh-most cited driver-related OOS violation in North America.
We've released the results from International Roadcheck, held May 12-14. Inspectors conducted 54,575 inspections of commercial motor drivers and vehicles. Most of the vehicles (81%) and drivers (94.2%) inspected did not have any out-of-service violations. https://t.co/rnnVlv9TLZ pic.twitter.com/wVuuh6vtMr
— CVSA (@CVSA) August 25, 2026
Brakes top U.S. vehicle violations list
The most OOS violations for vehicles driven in the U.S. — with a total of 2,816 violations — were issued for unsafe brake systems. Nestled within that category were 1,846 OOS violations in the category for vehicles with 20% defective brakes, which is described as when 20% or more of the vehicle’s brakes have an OOS condition.
Other top OOS commercial vehicle violations were issued for:
Tires — 2,669 violations
Lights — 1,514 violations
Cargo securement — 1,438 violations
This year, CVSA inspectors focused on cargo securement violations during vehicle inspections.
“Cargo securement violations occur when commercial motor vehicle freight is inadequately restrained, immobilized, locked, secured, tied down, packed or monitored. Shifting or falling freight may cause vehicle rollovers, jackknifes and deadly highway debris,” CVSA stated. “For this year’s initiative, approximately 13 vehicles per minute were inspected throughout North America.”
CVSA noted that all OOS violations logged in Mexico were for vehicle-related infractions, with no driver-related infractions.
