LEE COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) — Several commercial truck drivers traveling through Lee County have recently been cited under a decades-old federal regulation requiring commercial drivers to be able to read and speak English, as federal officials have stepped up enforcement of the rule during roadside inspections.
Court records from July 28 show Alabama State Troopers issued four citations in Lee County for violating the federal English-language requirement for commercial motor vehicle drivers.
The requirement is not a new Alabama law and does not apply to drivers of personal vehicles. Instead, Alabama enforces the federal commercial motor carrier safety regulations through state law. Alabama has strengthened commercial driver requirements. In March 2026, Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 242, requiring drivers with foreign commercial licenses to have valid U.S. work authorization, demonstrate English-language proficiency, and making it a crime to present a false foreign commercial driver’s license…