With roughly 1.8 million commercial trucks on California roads, chances are high that you’ll encounter one on your next drive. But despite the heightened dangers that come with such colossal vehicles, over a hundred unlicensed schools operate in California with little to no oversight.
As CalMatters’ Adam Echelman and Erica Yee explain, under current state law, private trucking schools that charge students $2,500 or less don’t need state licenses. At least 184 trucking schools in California are not regulated by the state, according to a CalMatters analysis of federal data.
Steve Gold, the founder and CEO of a chain of trucking schools, told CalMatters that his commercial trucking program took 18 months to become state certified. His schools charge students $6,000 and require about 160 hours of training. Meanwhile, students in unlicensed programs are told they can finish in 15 hours — the minimum requirement for behind-the-wheel training under state law.
Gold, during a testimony last year in support of an unsuccessful bill that would have closed the tuition loophole: “Unsuspecting everyday drivers have no idea the 80,000-pound truck on the highway is operated by an individual who’s not properly trained.”
Aspiring truckers can also find themselves on the losing end of unlicensed schools that can open as suddenly as they close.
In August, Ricardo Chavez was enrolled at the Truck Nation School in Modesto. Two days before he was scheduled to take the necessary exams at the California Department of Motor Vehicles to become a commercial driver, Chavez showed up at the school’s gate to see a sign that read the school had shut down.
By then Chavez was out $2,000 in tuition and fees, and in the days after the school closed, he failed the DMV exam twice. He ultimately passed on his third try, nearly three weeks later and after paying $300 to a different unlicensed school.
Chavez still doesn’t have a trucking job.
