how is it California fails to regulate most of the schools that train truck drivers? This allows nearly 200 unlicensed schools to operate with effectively no oversight, according to a CalMatters analysis of state and federal records.

Both the federal government and the state of California have systems for regulating trucking schools, making sure that they adhere to the curriculum, that the tuition costs are fair and that students are ultimately prepared to get behind the wheel of a truck.

But in California there is a loophole: Private trucking schools that charge students $2,500 or less don’t need state licenses, effectively exempting them from oversight.

When the state has tried to discipline schools, some reduced their tuition to $2,500 or less, at which point they no longer needed to heed the state’s orders. Other schools just disregarded the state’s orders altogether, the analysis shows.

https://calmatters.org/education/2026/02/trucking-school-california/