MAGA fans are rejoicing on social media in favor of President Donald Trump’s plan to sign an executive order requiring commercial truck drivers to speak English.

Breitbart News reported that Trump would sign the order Monday evening because “President Trump believes that English is a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers.” Last month, Trump designated English as “the official language of the United States.”

“This is such a big deal! So grateful for this, the roads will be much safer. Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers,” posted @coffeegirlvegas.

  • 野麦さん@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    78
    ·
    7 days ago

    I have a CDL, Class A with X endorsement.

    This changes nothing. CDL manuals, exams, and paperwork are all in English. What I think Trump thinks he’s doing is banning Mexicans from driving trucks in the US, but this is controlled by a reciprocity agreement between the US and Mexico. Surprise, Mexicans don’t have to take American exams for a CDL when they can have a license issued by the Mexican government.

    Basically all this is is white supremacist virtue signaling.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      7 days ago

      I would love to see the US go a month without Mexican truck drivers. The UK pulled the same stunt with Polish truck drivers. People were rejoicing at empty shelves and overflowing garbage bins.

    • Tetragrade@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      Nah you’re still thinking about it within the the UN/long peace legal framework. They can just do a decree that says no mexicans, and their extrajudidical thugs will take the signal to harass and murder truck drivers.

      B-but that’s illegal ☝️🤓

      Are you going to stop them?

      • 野麦さん@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        Are you going to stop them?

        Truck drivers aren’t the most progressive, but if they see fellow drivers getting harassed/attacked by four wheelers you can bet your ass they’re gonna go Mad Max on their asses for that

  • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    edit-2
    6 days ago

    Not sure about other states, but in mine, the ability to read and understand English is a requirement for getting a license…

    Now you could make an argument that’s not the same as speaking English, and my rebuttal is “should we ban mute, or speech-impared people from getting a CDL”?

    • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      I’m not really clear how they would even enforce this. They don’t have a database or standard test for speaking english.

      FBI: “Do you speak english?”

      Driver: “Sí señor. Aber ich lerne auch Deutsch.”

      FBI: “Fatastich. Guten Abend.”

    • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      , and my rebuttal is “should we ban mute, or speech-impared people from getting a CDL”?

      Well those people are already Undesirables under the rule of el trumpo, so their answer is… yeah?

      • stembolts@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        28
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        I read comments like this and all I can feel is astonishment that anyone’s life is so empty that they can dedicate time to caring about this.

        Like, it sounds made up, but honestly whether true or not… like, who cares? It’s so trivial and life has so much to offer. This comment is the first and last time I’ll ever think about this.

        • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          27
          ·
          7 days ago

          Well, it’s fact. Some truckers and trucker’s groups have theorized that the increase in CDL involved accidents since the relaxing of this rule are caused instead of simply correlated.

          I actually agree with enforcing rules like this so even though trump’s an asshole, this one might improve safety.

          • coherent_domain@infosec.pub
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            6 days ago

            I think it would be great if you can list some credible source before asserting a fact.

            Also I have a question, why do truck drivers speaking English makes the road more safe? As long as they understand the required knowledge, I don’t see the language they speak matters in terms of safety, but that could just be my lack of understanding in this area.

            • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              6 days ago

              Doesn’t the US have a shitton of unstandardized road signs which are just words?

              I feel like you have to have some English proficiency to understand them.

              • superkret@feddit.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                13
                ·
                6 days ago

                If all those signs were in Chinese, it would take a commercial truck driver about a week to memorize the writing for each and learn what it means.
                You don’t need to speak the language for that.

                • yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  6 days ago

                  But the inconsistency is the problem.

                  Take a look at the top signs about driving on the shoulder. Who is to say there aren’t twenty more variations?

                  Maybe a couple of

                  “Driving on shoulder mandatory”

                  “Trucks on shoulder only”

                  “Passing on shoulder permitted”

                  “$100 fine for driving on shoulder”

                  “Keep shoulder clear”

                  “No trucks allowed on shoulder”

                  There doesn’t seem to be any standard. It’s just text.

              • uselessRN@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                10
                ·
                6 days ago

                You know what also happened in 2016? They revised the definition of “large truck” to include 329 more vehicles. By increasing the sample size you’re going to see more accidents. Common cause of accidents is fatigue from drivers working too many hours. That gets better if there’s less drivers and they have to know English though right?

              • coherent_domain@infosec.pub
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                edit-2
                5 days ago

                The article states: “Republican Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming … [states] a consistent rise in fatal truck crashes since its implementation.”

                Whereas your statement is “[Requiring truck driver to speak English improves safety] is a fact”.

                I am not saying what you said is necessarily wrong or the policy is necessarily harmful; but I feel we probably need more proof than “a republican representative said so”, to assert a certain statement as “a fact”.

                BTW, neither you nor the news article provided the relevant data, which IMHO doesn’t really inspire confidence in your argument. Let alone all the potiential confounding variable others have mentioned.

          • mechoman444@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            6 days ago

            “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

            • Benjamin Franklin
  • katy ✨@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    47
    ·
    7 days ago

    yet another thing that has no legal standing and only exists to make the idiots think trump is accomplishing something

  • CBYX@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    6 days ago

    Good thing we won’t need so many of those when supply chains dry up from tariffs!

    • flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      7 days ago

      Good news! With the tarriffs throwing cold water on freight all across the US, we won’t need as many truck drivers!

      …I really wish I was joking, but the fiance is OTR and freight has already slowed for him. Here’s an article from February that talks about how it was already slower than expected.

      • General_Effort@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        Ouch. Things are about to get real harsh before they get worse. I hope you are prepared.

        It’s been speculated that Trump is doing this to prepare for the drop in cargo transport in the next few days. Me, I have doubts because nothing that Trump has said or done so far makes me believe that he or his sycophants are intellectually capable of that kind of rational planning. What do you think?

        • flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          6 days ago

          He has no goddamned clue what he’s doing. Whoever is speculating that is welcome to point to even one time where Trump prepared to keep people from economic harm in such a fashion, but I’ve only ever seen him walk things back, not actually insulate someone from harm.

  • greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    6 days ago

    Who the fuck is supposed to drive the trucks then? I live in (upstate) New York and it seems like even up there a significant population of Mexican truck drivers.

    • pfwood178@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      6 days ago

      Here, if they don’t speak English, they are almost all Eastern European or Indian. Lots of Russian, Belarusian, Chechen, etc

    • fantoozie@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      6 days ago

      How does being Mexican mean you don’t speak English? Have you never met a bilingual person in your life?

      • scbasteve7@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        edit-2
        6 days ago

        If you ever followed American politics throughout history, you can see how this can easily be abused. Before, you had to take a test to determine if you were smart enough to vote. The test was the same for both whites and minorities, but it was graded differently depending on your race.

        What defines “speaking English”?. Is it a basic level, being able to read road signs or being able to speak to dispatch, the loading crew, or ems at a fundamental level? Or is it college level? Will you even be tested if you’re white?

        With trumps many many anti-minority policies and rhetoric, and his abuse of ice, as well as setting up black sites and selling people to the El Salvadoran concentration camp, it’s hard not to think that this will be abused in some way. This is in no way a pro-English law. This is an anti-minority law.

        However, cause of how dot and cdls are set up now, I doubt that much will come out of it tbh

      • greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 days ago

        I don’t think I said they don’t speak English. It’s usually pretty broken in my experience. They’re usually just guys who work long hours at a hard job.

        I’ve actually seen deliveries from all sorts of immigrant drivers, Ukrainian stands out.

    • sowitzer@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      6 days ago

      I keep seeing comments from people pretending that the way it is meant to be is the way it is. Trump has said the law is what he says. There is no effective defense against him declaring laws if there is no enforcement. He has defied judges orders and will continue to do so. The EOs are laws because they are being followed and nobody is stopping them.

      Saying he can’t do that comes across like a right wing talking point. Trying to convince people that he can’t do what he is clearly doing, so those who are opposed will just sit around thinking the natural order will take care of it.

      And it’s working. Sure there have been some protests. But no where the amount needed to make a change. Trump is now a dictator, and far too many Americans are ok with it, directly and passively.

      • Necroscope0@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        Actually there have been some massive protests against all this BS Trump has done. The media is just complicit and basically none of these protests have been covered in any mainstream outlets. The protests ARE there but if you are not driving by them on the way to work you probably do not even know about them. Thanks MSM~!@

    • iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 days ago

      Many laws are written to give the executive branch leeway in defining the details of how a law is to be implemented. This makes sense, assuming everyone is acting in good faith; technologies, science, standards, and best practices all evolve over time.

      Laws are usually written in a way to ensure Congressional oversight, to prevent the executive either intentionally or accidentally from subverting their will. But with a treasonous President and a complicit Congress, here we are… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  • jsomae@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    6 days ago

    Like many, I have seen many accidents or near accidents from unqualified drivers

    Can anyone explain how knowing English would reduce traffic accidents? Is it because of detour signs?

    • darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 days ago

      In the US, traffic signs with crucial information are often written in only English text, no symbols, pictograms or anything else that could make it possible to guess what the sign is saying without being able to read English.

      • Qwaffle_waffle@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        6 days ago

        Can you please elaborate with some examples if possible? I’m trying to picture this from highways and roadways here in Florida, but I am struggling to get your gist. I will look again on the way home tonight. However I am not a trucker or cdl so I might be oblivious to some.

  • Wren@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    6 days ago

    So…. Let’s get this straight… he is signing orders to make things happen that have been happening for almost a century now??

    What’s next, an executive order to make air breathable??

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      6 days ago

      I’m assuming it’s just a way to sneak literacy tests into something. You can speak english, but can you speak it well enough to pass a subjective test administered by someone who hates you for being hispanic?

      • fantoozie@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        6 days ago

        Classic authoritarian tactics:

        Target a marginalized group with an issue that you’ve framed as ridiculous or politically suicidal to disagree with, get public opinion riled up by manipulating their grievances through exploiting their internal prejudices, and make everything an extension of preserving national security. Once you’ve manipulated enough people into giving you extralegal power, simply expand the circle of ‘national security threats’.

        In just a few months we’ve watched Trump:

        steal the power of the purse and the power to enact tariffs from Congress,

        create a precedent for the unconstitutional arrest, detainment, and removal of legal residents and dissenting citizens,

        iterate his intentions to restart American expansionism into Canada and Greenland,

        Successfully twist the arm of media companies, law firms, and universities into doing his bidding,

        And his other executive order directs Dept. Of Homeland Security, DoJ, and DoD to create a plan for implementation of military and national security assets to “prevent crime and protect public safety”.

        Welcome to the ‘find out’ stage.

        • Rhoeri@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 days ago

          You’re 100 percent dead-on.

          And alongside this point, I really wonder how many of the kids that were shouting at everyone to not vote because of the “doing a genocide thing” would have done things differently if they had actually believed us all when we tried to tell them this shit would happen.

          And I mean truly and honestly. Not the front they put up when they don’t want to publicly own their part in causing this to happen.

          Because I can say that as a voter, I am not at all in the “find out” phase. I already knew this would happen. There was never anything to find out.

      • Wren@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        I’ve seen others saying it’s just a way to make his devoted loyalists think he’s actually doing something.

        Probably a bit of both I’d imagine.

    • mustbe3to20signs@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      6 days ago

      Not in Trump’s America. Making breathability a requirement could limit some broligarch’s freedom to do business.