More than 7,000 truck drivers have lost their jobs in the United States this year after failing mandatory English language tests, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced. The move is part of a government crackdown after a series of road accidents involving Indian-origin truckers. The decision has badly affected Indian and Indian-origin drivers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, who make up a large share of the US trucking industry.

According to the North American Punjabi Truckers Association, around 130,000 to 150,000 drivers in the US are from Punjab and Haryana. Most of them work as truck drivers, and many have now been affected by the new English rules. Reports say that as of October 2025, around 7,248 drivers have been removed from service. This number is a big jump from July, when only 1,500 were suspended. Officials say roadside inspections have become stricter since the rule was reinstated earlier this year.

The rule requires all commercial truck drivers to be able to speak and understand English. If they fail the test, they are immediately taken out of service. Earlier, under the Obama administration, inspectors were not allowed to penalize drivers just because of their language skills. However, the Trump administration reversed that policy. Duffy said this rule is necessary to ensure road safety and clear communication on highways.

But many in the trucking industry disagree. Transport companies and driver groups, especially near the southern border, have criticised the rule. They say it unfairly targets bilingual or non-English-speaking drivers. Adalberto Campero, CEO of Unimex, said that many of these drivers have been driving safely for years but are now being punished because they don’t respond in English quickly enough during roadside checks.

The Sikh Coalition, a US-based advocacy group, also criticised the new rule. They said the Trump administration’s new Interim Final Rule (IFR) aims to remove nearly 194,000 immigrant drivers by cancelling their commercial driving licences. The group said this move is discriminatory and not based on actual driving performance or safety records. Overall, this crackdown has created fear and uncertainty among immigrant truck drivers in the US, many of whom have been the backbone of the country’s logistics industry for years.