GREENWOOD, Neb. — A Russian-speaking driver in Nebraska was pulled off the road and placed out-of-service this week by the Nebraska State Patrol because he couldn’t speak English.

According to Ohama TV station KETV, a trooper who had stopped a truck during the annual Roadcheck enforcement campaign said to the driver: “Sir, I need your papers. All of your papers. Log book, registration.”

The driver had everything in order but couldn’t communicate with the troopers. The cops put him out of service.

According to the TV station, the police then talked to his boss on the phone and told him the driver will remain out of service until “he can understand English.”

Although at least 18 states and the District of Columbia offer the commercial driver’s licence test in foreign languages, FMCSA rules state that a driver must be able to “read and speak English sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic.”

So technically, the troopers were within their rights.

A representative of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) said drivers in Canada need not worry about the English requirement. There’s no such regulation on the north side of the 49th parallel.

Troopers said the citation has entirely to do with safety because commercial drivers need to be able to read all signs and traffic warnings, especially when driving an 80,000- pound rig.

The trucker was stranded at the weigh station until someone from his company was able to pick him up along with his truck. Troopers say they will help drivers in that situation call for assistance, but admit that some drivers have waited for as long as three days for someone to come get them.

Throughout the U.S., as in Canada, the driver shortage sometimes necessitates the hiring of foreign drivers –many from Mexico.