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These California trucking schools broke state laws — regulators couldn’t do anything about it
NO. 283
VOL. 12,
Court names receiver to address crime and drug problems at Riverside motel By Joe Taglieri
By Adam Echelman and Erica Yee, CalMatters
joet@civicnewsgroup.com
This story was originally published by CalMatters.
The driveway entrance to the Riverside Inn & Suites on Magnolia Avenue. | Photo courtesy of the city of Riverside
An instructor teaches students about air brake releases at Dolphin Trucking School in the city of Vernon on March 11, 2024. | Photo courtesy of Zaydee Sanchez/CalMatters
W
hen commercial truck drivers are speeding down California’s highways and interstates with thousands of pounds of cargo in tow, a single mistake can be catastrophic. Yet California fails to regulate most of the schools that train truck drivers, allowing nearly 200 unlicensed schools to operate with effectively no oversight, according to a CalMatters analysis of state and federal records. And when the state has tried to use its limited authority to discipline schools for shortchanging students or flouting the law, its regulators are often powerless, according to the analysis. Without regulatory oversight, industry experts say there is no way to know whether students coming out of those schools are
prepared to operate a big rig safely. All aspiring truckers are required to attend specialized driving schools, where they study a dense curriculum — learning what to do, for instance, in the event of a skid or when the trailer swings out uncontrollably from the cab. Only then can they take the necessary exams at the California Department of Motor Vehicles. 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. The state has “more limited” tools for pursuing disciplinary action against trucking schools once they claim an exemption, said Monica Vargas, a spokesperson for California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, which is in charge of monitoring most private trade schools. She See Trucking schools Page 03
said the bureau can fine schools for violations, but if they refuse to pay, the state has no additional leverage beyond sending the fine to a collections agency. The bureau told the Legislature in a report last year that it gave licenses to 42 trucking schools. The total number of trucking schools could be roughly three times that, the bureau said, and Vargas later clarified that “exact numbers could not be known.” To determine a more accurate estimate of schools, CalMatters used a federal database that lists all trucking schools, regardless of their tuition rate. But it’s not clear how accurate or comprehensive that list is. The federal government
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Riverside Superior court judge has granted the city’s request for an appointed receiver to take control of a motel that has been the site of dozens of criminal acts and code violations, officials announced Wednesday. Years of “narcotic, criminal and nuisance activity” at the Riverside Inn & Suites, 10705 Magnolia Ave., near Polk Street in the La Sierra neighborhood, “presents an ongoing danger to the occupants, surrounding community, and general public,” Deputy City Attorney Jacob Castrejon wrote in court papers. If a receiver does not take over management of the property and oversee its rehabilitation, “the extremely unsafe criminal and substandard conditions will continue,” Castrejon argued. “The appointment of a receiver is necessary to prevent harm to the public See Riverside motel Page 23
both in the surrounding community and the city at large.” Offenses documented at the motel over the years include drug possession, sale and usage, as well as assaults, prostitution, drug overdoses, assault and battery, including on a police officer, weapons violations, attempted murder, rape and sexual assault, child endangerment and other crimes. “This property is wellknown to law enforcement on the West End of our city, I am gratified to see two years of work result in the granting of a receivership that will begin turning this property around,” City Councilman Jim Perry said in a statement. Perry has called for law enforcement efforts at the Riverside Inn and four other motels along the Magnolia corridor. “This is just the beginning,” Perry said in a video