The Texas Department of Public Safety began administering the state’s commercial drivers licenses and permit tests exclusively in English on Monday, the agency announced, following changes in federal requirements amid a nationwide crackdown on noncitizen truck drivers.
All of Texas’ CDL and commercial learner’s permit knowledge tests will be conducted only in English, removing the Spanish option previously offered, according to the DPS press release announcing the change.
The hands-on CDL skills test, which includes the driving and controls test, has always been conducted exclusively in English. Interpreters were previously barred from the skills portion of the test, and applicants were required to “be able to understand and respond to verbal commands and instructions in English by a skills test examiner,” according to a previous version of DPS’ website prior to Monday’s change.
Gov. Greg Abbott directed DPS in September to “strictly enforce” the federal government’s new English requirements and ordered the agency to conduct English Language Proficiency reviews for all commercial license operators. The changes are designed to align Texas’ testing requirements with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the release said, which had its guidance altered in May 2025 by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“The issue is simple: We’re not putting up signs in any other language than English. We’re requiring drivers speak and read English as a bare minimum requirement,” Duffy said in an op-ed in Breitbart previewing the 2025 changes.
In late April, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced investigations into five trucking schools for allegedly disregarding English language requirements when administering CDL tests.
DPS’ removal of the Spanish test option comes amid a series of restrictions Texas has enacted aimed at cracking down on commercial and noncommercial immigrant drivers in the state.
In September, Texas halted commercial drivers licenses for refugees, people with asylum and DACA recipients, also following federal changes from Duffy, who said “dangerous foreign drivers” were being given licenses.
Texas’ Department of Motor Vehicles also introduced photo identification requirements for vehicle registrations and renewals in November aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from legally owning vehicles. Auto industry representatives and some county officials pushed back against the changes, citing safety and economic concerns for those affected.
