Aramis Andrews shared with CalMatters that he invested over $3,000 to attend the unlicensed Premier Trucking School in Red Bluff. He claimed the instructor expected him to learn everything online prior to class and promised 20 hours of in-vehicle practice. However, upon arrival, the instructor expressed discontent with Andrews’s level of preparation and dismissed him from the program on his second day. “He wanted me to come to the school already knowing everything, just to drive around and show I was competent,” Andrews remarked. “Honestly, I feel it was just a scam.”
Joe German, the owner of the school, stated that Andrews was expelled for “not taking the course seriously.” German mentioned that he issued a refund for the remainder of the program, a claim that Andrews contests.
In December, the state bureau penalized Premier Trucking School with a $12,500 fine for operating without a license or valid exemption. Although German claimed he paid the fine, he denied any deliberate wrongdoing, stating he was unaware of the bureau’s regulations. He added that the complete licensing process could “bankrupt us,” emphasizing that the bureau is designed for larger institutions, not small operations with one or two trucks.
According to Gold, CEO of 160 Driving Academy, the insufficient regulation is a key reason for the inadequate training some students undergo. “These schools lack a comprehensive approved training curriculum and are unlikely to comply with federal regulations. The level of training they conduct is uncertain,” he said in his testimony for Fong’s bill last year. “Consumers often remain unaware.”
Fong refrained from commenting on the reasons his bill failed, noting the state faced a “challenging budget last year.” The bill was rejected in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which deals with fiscal issues. An estimate from the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education indicated that regulating all trucking schools would cost over $800,000 annually to hire five new employees, although registration fees could cover about half of those expenses. The legislature is re-evaluating the bill this year.
The Trucking School Issue
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, appointed by President Donald Trump, has prioritized cracking down on trucking schools. He claims—and notes he only has anecdotal evidence—that numerous schools, particularly in California, are graduating immigrants who lack English skills and drive less safely than other truckers.
In December, Duffy announced that the department had removed nearly 3,000 trucking schools from its national registry for data falsification, neglecting federally mandated curricula, or failing to produce certain records. An additional 4,500 schools were warned about “potential noncompliance,” yet the department did not respond to CalMatters inquiries regarding the specific violations. Duffy has repeatedly characterized some trucking schools as “mills,” assisting unqualified students in obtaining driver’s licenses.
Ongoing Violations and Data Overview
Despite Duffy’s initiatives, institutions with multiple infractions still exist in the national registry. For instance, the Fresno Truck Driving School Inc. was inspected six times in the past two years, revealing recurring issues with its trucks’ emergency brakes and the inability of a driver to adequately communicate in English.
“If you’re getting a federal inspection, that means something has clearly gone wrong,” stated Zach Cahalan, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition, which advocates for truck safety and victims of truck-related accidents. He noted, however, that trucks often receive multiple violations before federal action is taken to shut down an operation.
The transportation department suggested removing Premier Trucking School from its registry, and the institution is now closed. Meanwhile, DTS Technical, Inc. remains listed. The Truck Nation School in Modesto is also still on the federal list, even though it has been closed for months. A different establishment, Truck Master School, has taken over the Truck Nation lease and charges nearly $2,500 while also being exempt from state oversight.
Analysis of Trucking Schools
To gauge the number of trucking schools not governed by California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, CalMatters analyzed state and federal datasets. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration maintains the Training Provider Registry, which allows providers to self-affirm compliance with federal and state requirements. However, this registry does not “approve or certify” these providers.
CalMatters created a list of 2,676 training locations in California as of January 8, 2026, filtering out those registered as “private enrollment only” (like employer-based training programs) and those likely unconnected to commercial driver training. The federal database lists all locations separately, prompting CalMatters to consolidate branch locations by name and contact details. Schools were matched with the state bureau’s list of approved institutions based on similar criteria.
Ultimately, the analysis identified at least 184 training providers listed in the federal registry that appear to mainly function as private trucking schools but lacked approval from California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education as of January 8, 2026. Verification of schools’ operational status involved checking recent reviews and online listings or directly contacting the schools.
This article was originally published by CalMatters and is republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
