Story by Gabriela Martínez of Spotlight PA
This story was produced by the Berks County Bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.
READING – Under a Trump administration directive, thousands of truck drivers have been pulled off roads nationwide this year after failing to demonstrate sufficient English proficiency.
That crackdown has led Tec Centro, a bilingual career center in Reading, to offer language classes to drivers and students who were worried about losing their jobs or being unable to find one.
“We wanted them to be in a better position than they were currently, being able to address some of the questions that they may be asked if they’re stopped at a weigh station,” Tec Centro Executive Director Violet Emory told Spotlight PA. “So we built a curriculum around that.”
The federal government has always required truck drivers with a commercial driver’s license to know enough English to understand U.S. highway signs, hold conversations with the public, and answer questions from law enforcement. However, an Obama-era policy directed inspectors not to put drivers “out of service” solely for not meeting language proficiency standards.
In April, the Trump administration rescinded that directive, and now drivers are at least temporarily banned from operating a truck if they fail an English proficiency test. Repeat violations can lead to more serious consequences, like losing a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
The stricter federal requirements have also narrowed what Tec Centro can provide. Tec Centro and its partner, Optimist CDL Coaching School, are no longer offering free CDL training in Spanish, instead requiring basic-level English proficiency.
Kidary Miranda, supervisor of programs at Tec Centro, said many students who had signed up for CDL training and were ready to start this fall and next year no longer qualify.
“All those people are depressed. They’re very sad,” Miranda said. “I send them videos, things to help motivate them, to show them that they can achieve their goals, but they can’t start now, not until they have reached that level of English.”
Miranda said about 40 people who enrolled and were set to start CDL training were referred to ESL classes. There are currently 330 people on the waitlist for Tec Centro’s free CDL-training program.
More than 3,000 drivers nationwide have been pulled off the road for not demonstrating sufficient English skills during a roadside inspection this year, according to federal data. That includes 38 in Pennsylvania.
Candidates for CDLs are required to take a written knowledge test in English. They must also perform a pre-trip inspection and show they can safely operate a commercial vehicle as part of a three-part skills test, which is also conducted entirely in English.
During an inspection, safety officials and law enforcement are required to evaluate drivers’ language skills through a two-step test. Roadside inspections are initiated in English, and if the driver shows difficulty understanding instructions or communicating, the inspector conducts an English proficiency test, which includes an interview and a highway traffic sign recognition assessment.
Tec Centro’s free, eight-week English as a second language (ESL) course was designed to help drivers navigate these inspections and other common interactions they might encounter while on the job. It also covers traffic signs, explains how to correctly fill out administrative forms, communicate with police officers in English, and effectively call for help if a breakdown or crash happens.
The use of online translators and AI tools is another part of the course. Amy Young, adult basic coordinator at Tec Centro and the instructor who leads the course, said these tools can be helpful. At the same time, she wants to make sure students can fend for themselves in English and are not overly dependent on tools like Google Translate.
“You cannot completely rely on it,” Young said of those language aides. “It’s really on how you present yourself, and the more comfortable you are with the language and with what you can expect, the better you comport yourself.”
For people who recently got their CDL but are not fully proficient in English, finding a job might be harder in the current climate. That can be frustrating, Miranda of Tec Centro said, because many put a lot of dedication into the program, sometimes even quitting their jobs to get a better one.
Javier Molina, who got his license in July, took a break from applying for jobs so he could work on his English. He was referred to a workplace ESL class at the Literacy Council of Reading-Berks, along with other students from Optimist.
“Everything the inspector spoke to us in English [during the test] we knew,” Molina said. “But if we have to start a conversation with a police officer, we wouldn’t understand each other. We need more English.”
In-demand jobs
When Optimist began operating in Berks County, CEO Pedro Rosario noticed a need for a curriculum that is friendly to Spanish-speakers. Before the stricter federal guidelines came into effect this year, Optimist would accept students with low English skills and place them in their Spanish-language CDL training program.
Now, the school only accepts students who have a working level of English. It still offers a bilingual class where some instruction is in Spanish and materials, videos, and textbooks are in English.
“We have our way of teaching them,” Rosario said. “A lot of people would go to other schools and, because their English was not very fluent, they couldn’t understand anything.”
Still, Rosario says, the school tries to motivate students to work on their English. Some sections of the training are taught exclusively in English, like the pre-trip inspection and other topics that are covered in the CDL exam.
According to a recent census survey, 98,376 people in Berks County speak a language other than English at home; 44% said they speak English less than “very well.”
The survey also found that there are 79,837 Spanish speakers living in the county. As one of the main workforce development institutions serving the Reading area, Tec Centro specializes in helping the region’s large Spanish-speaking community connect to jobs and skills-training opportunities in the area.
Graduates from Tec Centro’s CDL program can enter the job market and compete for high-demand jobs. Berks County needs more truck drivers who have CDLs, specifically those who can operate large vehicles that transport goods, according to a report from the Berks County Workforce Development Board.
The board also identified a “long-term shortage” of qualified CDL drivers as “a drag” on local economic activity, especially in manufacturing. CDL driving jobs are on the county’s high-priority occupation list, which means eligible students may qualify for individual grants to cover most, if not all, the cost of CDL training through certain training providers.
“If you can land a job in that area, the pay is pretty good, and the pay has been going up a good bit over the last four years due to the driver shortage,” said Dan Fogarty, former director of the county workforce development board.
A recent analysis by the board showed the mean annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is $59,800, but salaries can vary by the type of vehicle the driver operates.
Victor Melendez was promoted by the Reading furniture company he works for after getting his CDL through Tec Centro’s program. The promotion enabled more hours and a higher salary.
“For me, it was a big change, good for me and my family,” said Melendez, who at the time was also welcoming a newborn daughter.
Melendez sought the class because he was concerned the executive order enforcing stronger English requirements might impact him professionally. He moved from the Dominican Republic 10 years ago, but doesn’t consider himself “very fluent” in English.
Melendez said that many of his coworkers are Spanish speakers, and he said the company provided resources, like workshops, to those not fully fluent in English after the federal government announced the new enforcement rules. Still, his employer was also clear about what could happen if employees did not meet a certain level of English.
“They were sincere. They said that if you don’t pass the inspection, we can’t let you go out on the road because that puts us at risk,” Melendez said. “All of us who had weak English went back to learning … so we wouldn’t lose our jobs.”
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