A trucking school previously featured on MSNBC was shut down earlier this month after having their certification revoked for fraudulent CDL testing.
CrossCountry Truck Driving Training School in Burlington, North Carolina shut down in February of 2024 after a “handful of fraudulent testing” was discovered. The school suddenly shut down without notifying its students or even refunding them, leaving them at a loss for what to do next.
“We’re tired. It was more or less like you see the signs on the doors, and nobody was saying anything … That’s our hard earned money or time,” said truck driving student Shelly Critchley.
My Fox 8 reports that a school employee passed a CDL applicant without ever administering the test. That same employee later admitted to “doing a handful of fraudulent testing.” This fraud led to a petition to revoke the school’s certification.
Trucking school owner Pamela Day, who once appeared on MSNBC’s ‘Cross Connection’ to oppose the idea that truckers are all ‘aggressive’ white men over 55, fought to maintain the certification on the grounds that she had a good “track record” for administering CDL tests, but the certification was revoked anyway. Day had previously reported the fraudulent employee and fired them for their transgressions.
Now, students who were attending CrossCountry Truck Driving Training School when it shut down are getting help from a second, friendly trucking school owner who just wants them to get the chance to pass their CDL exam.
“I just feel that you have to give them the equal opportunity to at least try to finish their course,” said Michael Randle, owner of Kinos CDL academy.
Randle says that he is currently offering his outdoor training facility for prior students of the now-defunct school looking to complete their CDL, and has even reached out to the DMV to see if he can legally help the students complete their CDL course. A DMV compliance officer is also offering to lend out his truck to those same students for free.
“I’m fortunate that I can do this, and I’m not looking for anything … in return. I just want them to finish .. Somebody needs to help them because a tractor and trailer is not available like a car,” Randle said.
“I feel a lot more at ease because somebody is actually really wanting to help,” said CDL student Joseph Patterson, who spent over $5,000 on the school just before it shut down.
NCDOT says that CrossCountry Truck Driving Training School could still legally operate without the CDL testing certification. It is not clear why the school was completely shut down. Pamela Day has not responded to requests for comment.