Ill be graduating from CDL class driving school in 8 weeks (long course), and I am trying to get a job lined up for when I'm done with school. Money is getting tight. Anyway I was told today by a pretty good company that because I slid off the road 4 years ago in a snow storm that they were not interested in hiring me. I've got no speeding tix on my record and only one other accident on my record in 98'. Anyway am I going to have a tuff time getting a job??

Most of the time if the accident was more than 3 years ago you are OK. You have had 2 accidents in 9 years. Still ought to be OK. What is the details? You said you slid off the road in a snowstorm. What about the other accident? Any citations involved? I got a feeling there is something else in play here.

__________________
My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

off the roa in the snow hit a rock..$6000 in damage to my car only..the rock was fine

the other accident in 98 i was sighted for blowing a red light, not a good one...other than operating with a head light out and no license in poss in 2002 there is nothing else really..

What is hurting you is when they add them all up. The running a stop light that caused a wreck is a major. Tack on no license in poss and a headlight out, along with another wreck and your track record is not that great from a trucking company's view. Most 4 wheelers don't take in to consideration they drive maybe an hour or two a day. Look at your past at that rate. Now think like a trucking company. You will be driving 11 hours a day instead of 1 or 2. Look at how the odds just went up of you having more problems with 9 or 10 more hours added to your daily drive time.

__________________
My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

well there is nothing i can do to change the past, hopefully someone will give me a chance to prove myself

Was the no license in possession only that you didn't have it with you or you didn't have a license, in many states, that is only an offense if you don't have a valid license, they can get misplaced.

Failure to obey a traffic control device, the red light violation, is more serious. The question there is the amount of damage and was anyone badly injured. and was the other driver involved doing anything stupid like passing in an intersection or making a left turn from a right turn only lane, it does happen.

In your defense, most people that start driving for a living are far better drivers after a few months than they ever were before.

I think someone will hire you, it may not be a company you had even considered before. Keep looking.

AJ

i understand the point you make about the added up incidents weighing me down... thanks for the input

The headlight thing should have been a fix-it ticket, the last few times it happened to me, I noticed it before I was stopped and I was headed to a all-night store to buy a light, the officer didn't even write a repair ticket. I carry a spare low beam in my truck.

the accident at the stop light was bad as far as vehicle damage, but i dont think there were any major personal injuries, everyone got out of the cars on their own and walked...i never heard anything else from the insurance companies or the courts after that night

I wish you well. The trucking industry is not forgiving at all. You might pick something up, but keep in mind that this has happened to others in the past. They have a few things in the past to hold them back. Some companies know the odds are against the driver. They take them on knowing they are limited as to who will hire them. Pay might not be that great, but some will start pushing the driver to make the deliveries no matter what.

They might even remind you that you will have trouble finding work if you leave them. They might threaten you with a bad DAC report. You decide to play along. They have you under the thumb. Something happens, now you are in trouble with DAC. Tickets, accidents, etc. Your log book is in violation. The company throws you to the wolves. Don't mean to try to scare you or discourage you. Just make sure you do a lot of research. Know what your getting into. Some companies are shady.

__________________
My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!