An upstart commercial driving academy with branches in Washington and Oregon was allegedly bribing an independent driving tester to obtain passing grades on exams for its unqualified students in Washington, according to state investigative records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive and detailed in a story published Friday.
Here are five things to know:
What was the problem in Washington?
Washington, like Oregon, outsources testing of candidates for commercial driver’s licenses to independent contractors. Regulators in Washington found that Skyline CDL School was more likely than not making cash payments to one of the state’s contract testers, Jason Hodson, to ensure its unqualified students in that state would pass their test. Some drivers, regulators wrote, never fully tested. Others didn’t show up for tests on the days scheduled and subsequently received passing grades from the tester on that day.
Regulators also determined that Skyline relied on unqualified instructors, falsified records, bypassed English proficiency standards that are mandatory for truckers, and failed to document training hours and students’ skills, according to investigative reports the newsroom received in a public records request.
Why should I care?
Trucking is one of the country’s most hazardous professions, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Commercial drivers pilot rigs of up to 80,000 pounds, and Washington regulators and experts contacted by the newsroom said the licensing of unqualified drivers poses a major risk to the general public, including in states beyond Washington where those truckers might be driving. The situation raises questions about how closely both Oregon and Washington are regulating the industry, and whether all the drivers who fraudulently passed their exams have been taken off the road.
What did they do about it?
Washington regulators suspended Skyline’s licenses to operate its schools in Vancouver and Auburn on Dec. 31 and revoked the license in March. They ended their contract with the tester last fall. Hodson has been directed to issue refunds to all customers for tests not legitimately conducted. The state also notified Skyline’s Washington students at the time of suspension that they are eligible for refunds supported by the state’s Tuition Recovery Trust Fund. The Washington Department of Licensing retested a small fraction of the drivers purportedly tested by Hodson during the period in question and canceled most of their licenses.
Oregon regulators are still playing catch up, learning key details about Washington’s investigation from The Oregonian/OregonLive. The Higher Education Coordinating Committee, which regulates private career schools in Oregon, fined the company $500 in March for failing to report Washington’s disciplinary action and said additional enforcement action may be pending related to an apparent change in ownership that may not have been reported to the state in a timely manner. The state division of Driver and Motor Vehicle Services is looking into six Skyline students who obtained their licenses after testing with Hodson and subsequently exchanged them in Oregon to obtain the same commercial driving privileges here.
How many drivers are we talking about?
Washington regulators identified 877 drivers tested by Hodson between April 2023 and Sep. 15, 2024, 822 of them from Skyline. Citing the expense involved and potential hardship on drivers, the state said it only selected 143 of those drivers for retesting. Of 74 drivers who eventually retested, 80% of them failed. Others never scheduled a retest within a 47-day window established by the state.
Regulators eventually pulled the licenses of 110 drivers, 102 of them from Skyline, but admit they can’t be confident they identified all the drivers potentially involved.
Is the school still operating in Oregon?
Skyline’s only Oregon branch, in Hillsboro, is still active. The Higher Education Coordinating Committee conducted a site visit in late March and found no violations. The commission said Skyline has submitted a preliminary application to relicense here with different ownership but declined to share other details.
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