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Panel backs codifying federal English‑proficiency standard for CDLs after Highway 61 incident
Summary
Rep. Don Mayhew and law‑enforcement witnesses urged codifying federal CDL English‑proficiency rules and adding penalties for carriers and operators after a wrong‑way tractor‑trailer incident; prosecutors and local sheriffs described enforcement gaps when out‑of‑state CDLs lack verifiable identity.
Representative Don Mayhew opened the hearing on House Bill 3,491, which would codify federal English‑proficiency and related requirements for commercial driver's licenses and add fines and prohibitions on operation for carriers and drivers who allow unqualified operators on Missouri roads. Mayhew cited a recent wrong‑way tractor‑trailer crash on U.S. Highway 61 that prompted national attention.
Lincoln County prosecuting attorney Mike Wood told the committee that troopers who stopped the truck on Feb. 27, 2026 found the driver unable to communicate in English, removed him from service after an English‑proficiency exam and discovered the CDL had been issued by another state without Social Security information, limiting investigators' ability to track the individual. "That driver then failed the highway traffic assessment and English proficiency exam," Wood said, and law enforcement took the driver out of service.
Sheriff Rick Harrell testified that without enforcement tools compliance is unlikely and that the county's small force cannot conduct broad warrant sweeps; he described traffic fatalities and urged closing gaps that allow unqualified drivers. Tom Crawford of the Missouri Trucking Association provided informational testimony about industry diversity and raised concerns about how the law would affect legitimate carriers and non‑domiciled drivers.
Committee members pressed how the proficiency assessment would be standardized in the field, how carriers would be notified, and whether penalties would deter bad actors while not unfairly punishing lawful drivers or small carriers. Witnesses said proficiency testing is already part of the highway‑patrol driver‑examination protocol when officers suspect inability to read or converse in English, and sponsors indicated they would work on clean‑up language (for example, extending carrier‑notification windows longer than the bill's 12‑hour notice to allow business hours contacts).
The bill would make inability to meet specified English‑proficiency standards a ground for removal from operation and fine carriers that put unqualified drivers into service; sponsors said the proposal largely mirrors federal rules but creates state penalties to close enforcement gaps.
The committee heard multiple witnesses on both sides and requested technical clarifications on standards and enforcement mechanics before any vote.
