How to handle regulatory changes without losing your mind (using ELP as a case study)

August 6, 2025

“Can you give us a certificate that proves our drivers speak English?”

It’s a question we’ve heard more than once this year, usually from fleet managers overwhelmed by the sudden resurgence of English Language Proficiency (ELP) enforcement in the US.

As confusion spreads, so does panic. Fleets scramble to decode what’s going on and what they are meant to do. But the real issue here isn’t ELP. It’s the lack of a reliable process inside fleets to react when regulations change.

This pattern isn’t new. Back in 2017, CarriersEdge co-founder Mark Murrell wrote a blog post called “Regulatory Changes, FSMA, and Basic Research” after a flood of calls about food safety training. The message still holds up: stop relying on hearsay and “experts” who charge you to read the internet. Learn how to do it yourself.

With ELP, we’re seeing the same kind of confusion, so let’s use this moment as a case study. In this article, we’ll walk through the same three-step approach we use when evaluating any regulatory shift:

1. What’s actually changing?
2. How does it affect you?
3. What can you do about it?

This isn’t a recipe card. It’s a repeatable process to help you stop chasing rumors and start making informed decisions before the next wave hits.

Step 1. What’s actually changing?

Before you can figure out what to do about something, you must understand exactly what’s changing. That sounds obvious, but it’s where most people stumble.

When the ELP conversation started heating up again, many fleets assumed there was a brand-new regulation in play. The regulation itself hasn’t changed. The requirement for drivers to speak and understand English has been on the books for years. What’s new is the level of enforcement: roadside inspectors are now being directed to flag violations more actively, with clearer guidance from the CVSA on what to look for.

That distinction matters. If you believe the rules have changed, you’ll likely overreact or miss the mark entirely. But if you know that enforcement is what’s shifting, you can approach the situation more strategically.

So how do you get clarity on what’s really changing?

• Start at the source. Instead of relying on forums, YouTube videos, or social media posts (many of which are just regurgitated interpretations), go straight to the regulatory bodies. In the case of ELP, that means checking the FMCSA and CVSA websites, looking for regulation text, CVSA guidance memos, and enforcement bulletins or inspection procedures. These aren’t easy to read, but they’re the most reliable source of truth.
• Add context. Sometimes the why behind a change gives you more clarity than the legal language. Regulations don’t change just for fun. There’s usually a specific risk or event driving the update. For ELP, it’s about public safety: drivers misreading signs or being unable to communicate critical cargo details to first responders in case of a car accident. Understanding the why helps you interpret the what more effectively, and anticipate where the focus might land next.
• Check the timeline. Finally, be realistic about when the change is happening and how firm that timeline is. Is this a hard enforcement date? Will there be a “soft rollout”? Could the change be delayed or walked back? That piece often gets overlooked, but it makes a huge difference in how fast you need to act and how you plan your internal rollout.

Step 2. How does it affect you?

Once you know what’s changing, the next step is figuring out what it means for your operation. This is where fleets tend to get overwhelmed, or worse, latch onto a vague idea and stop there.

To assess how a regulation affects you, you need to look at who in your fleet is affected, how they’re affected, and what that means day-to-day.

With ELP, for example, some fleets immediately jumped to: “Do we need to start issuing English proficiency certificates?” Not only is that not required, but it also misses the real point. However, if you ask the right questions, you get a clear understanding of how exactly it affects you:

• Are drivers who aren’t native English speakers on my fleet running loads into the US or crossing borders where enforcement is likely?
• Could any of those drivers struggle to answer questions at roadside or misinterpret safety instructions?
• Has my fleet ever had communication issues noted during inspections or audits?

As some US carriers didn’t approach the ELP enforcement as thoroughly, their superficial take on that was that their drivers were safe because they “passed” orientation in English. But they didn’t look deeper. Roadside inspections assess real-world communication, which means enforcement is now a live, field-level issue and can lead to penalties, delays, or worse, if left unchecked.

Another piece of the complete picture is to see what’s not changing. In the case of ELP, there’s no new testing mandate and no official ELP certificate to collect.

Understanding both the impact and the non-impact helps you avoid wasted effort and build a plan that actually works.

Step 3. What do you do about it?

The last step is deciding what action to take and what not to waste time on.

Let’s go back to our ELP example.

After reviewing the regulation and realizing that the issue is roadside enforcement, not documentation or classroom instruction, it becomes clear: this isn’t about issuing certificates. It’s about proving your drivers can function in English when it counts.

That means your action plan needs to focus on:

• Identifying potential gaps. Who might struggle in a real-world scenario? Do I have a way to assess that?
• Coaching, not certifying. A certificate won’t help during a roadside inspection. But role-playing conversations or providing communication-focused support might.
• Equipping frontline managers. Your safety and compliance team should understand what inspection officers are looking for and be prepared to address issues proactively.
• Talking to your insurer. If language barriers pose a safety or liability concern, your insurer might offer tools or guidance (and they’ll appreciate that you’re taking initiative).
• Using training systems strategically. While CarriersEdge can’t teach conversational English, we can help fleets identify knowledge gaps and ensure drivers are retaining critical safety information. Combined with in-house coaching, that’s a powerful approach.

In short, your next steps depend on your fleet’s situation. The process of working through “What’s changing?” and “How does it affect us?” will usually make the answer to “What do we do about it?” pretty obvious.

But if you skip the first two steps. You’ll stay stuck in reaction mode, chasing checklists instead of solving problems.

Don’t just react—prepare

Regulatory changes are a fact of life in trucking. But how your fleet responds can make the difference between scrambling under pressure and confidently adapting to what’s ahead.

To support fleets navigating the recent ELP enforcement updates, CarriersEdge has released a diagnostic assessment for customers. Designed to simulate a roadside inspection, the tool uses audio and visual cues to evaluate a driver’s ability to understand signs and answer basic questions. It doesn’t guarantee a pass during enforcement, but it helps carriers identify where risks may exist, so they can start addressing them before an issue arises.

The next new regulation or change won’t come with a how-to guide either, but with a repeatable process and a proactive mindset, your fleet won’t just survive the changes, you’ll stay ahead of them.