English checks sideline drivers in 48-hour Arkansas sweep as FMCSA tally hits 33,000

The Arkansas operation was the third wave of Operation Highway Shield, a U.S. Department of Transportation enforcement campaign. Arkansas Highway Police worked with FMCSA, the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations and ICE at weigh stations on interstate and highway corridors, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The sweep ran from 6 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, to 6 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.

What inspectors found in Arkansas

According to the state, the 48 hours produced:

• 1,724 inspections
• 393 drivers and trucks placed out of service
• more than 330 drivers found unqualified or not authorized to drive
• 183 English language proficiency disqualifications
• more than 1,000 safety violations
• 369 traffic citations or warnings
• 44 criminal arrests
• 74 immigration violations referred to federal immigration enforcement
• 1 stolen trailer recovered

FMCSA repeated the Arkansas numbers in a Nov. 4, 2026, release. The agency described the drivers it is targeting as unable to speak basic English or read road signs.

The national count

In the same release, FMCSA gave totals since an April 2025 executive order on English proficiency:

• about 33,000 drivers placed out of service for failing English checks;
• about 31,000 commercial driver’s licenses revoked that the agency says were improperly issued;
• nearly 10,000 driving schools shut down.

These are agency figures. FMCSA has not published the data behind them. In August 2026, the agency put the English count at more than 26,000, so roughly 7,000 drivers were added in about three months.

Earlier Highway Shield waves ran in Florida in March and in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio over the summer, Land Line reported. FreightWaves has since reported similar inspections in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

The rule that would lock it in

Failing an English check has been an out-of-service condition under CVSA’s roadside inspection criteria since June 25, 2025. On Aug. 10, 2026, FMCSA proposed writing it into federal regulations as an out-of-service violation, under docket FMCSA-2026-0826. The proposal does not change the English requirement itself, which already sits in 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2).

Comments closed Oct. 9, 2026. FMCSA has not issued a final rule. Until it does, inspectors keep enforcing the current out-of-service criteria.

Inspectors at the same scale houses also check equipment. During CVSA’s August Brake Safety Week, 1 in 7 trucks inspected was sidelined for brakes. More in CDL Rules & FMCSA.