New bill proposes $100K cabotage fines, mandatory English tests for truckers

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced Barron's Law on Monday, a bill that would require standardized English-proficiency testing for commercial driver's license issuance and renewal, set fines of up to $100,000 per vehicle per day for foreign carriers caught hauling domestic freight illegally, and launch a GPS and ELD-data geofencing pilot at high-volume land ports of entry.

The bill targets illegal cabotage and chameleon carriers — foreign operators running domestic loads without proper authority. The geofencing pilot would use location and ELD data at the busiest land ports of entry to flag trucks operating illegally.

The legislative text had not been publicly posted as of Wednesday morning, so the exact testing standards and enforcement mechanics remain to be seen. The proposal lands as English-proficiency enforcement is already intensifying at roadside inspections across the country.

Why it matters: Standardized English testing would move the requirement from roadside enforcement into the CDL issuance and renewal process itself — and $100,000-per-day fines would be the stiffest cabotage penalty on the books.