felony friendly companies???

I agree. All the companies that I looked at say 10 years or more or none at all. You can also look at Fleet Directory and see a few companies there.

I believe that all kinds of people gravitate towards the industry because of the advertising that's done. I would be shocked to see a school turn someone down if they walked in with a load of cash and wanted to be trained. This is where the industry starts but unfortunately their idea of training is to get the student a CDL and they could care less when they walk out the door. If you're going to weed out bad drivers you need to weed out bad schools or bad instructors as well.

 

NOTE TO SELF: Do not make eye contact with any driver from any of these companies listed.


I kid I kid.

 

What most of these schools teach is more than I received when I first started. We didn't have schools back then. I think it would be much better if most new drivers started driving a straight truck and then moved up to a combination vehicle. That is the way that I started and I have a spotless record. I have friends who started in a similar way.

Your real learning begins when you start to work. This isn't a complicated job, but we do have complicated issues with which we must deal on a daily basis. We have always had felons in this business. Some came to the business because it was the only job that they could find. Thirty or forty years ago this was a tough business. Fifty years or more ago it was even more challenging. Those who came to this business mostly stayed in the industry. Today, we have a different group of people. I don't know when I have seen such a diverse group who enter this business. We have computer people, attorneys and college professors. Some come to this business with many mis-perceptions or to get them through until their profession picks up where they can get back to that which they were originally trained.

 

I agree. But since the industry mandates that new drives go to school I believe the school should teach more than just getting a CDL. That's my opinion since some of the larger companies put driver trainers in the truck that only have 6 months experience themselves. The companies are relying on the schools so the schools shouls have a high standard.

I would guess we started with the same type of conditions. Once you got into the truck your trainer had many years experience and his name was on the line. If you turned out to be a bad driver it reflected back on him. So then the training was superior. You learned more than just shifting gears and backing. For the life of me I can not believe a school would charge so much and then train on an automatic.

 

My training consisted of going around the block with a very experienced driver. He explained to me about the air brakes and double clutching and after that I was on my own. Of course, he and any of the other experienced drivers were always willing to help me if I got into a jam.

Carriers and schools continue to train people because the government is paying the bill. When I started companies took care of their own training of new drivers, what training that there was back then. It has become just another revenue stream for these carriers.

I don't necessarily have a problem with hiring felons. It depends on the offense, length of time since the conviction and what the individual has done since. I don't see why we should continue to kick an individual when they are down. While some may continue to commit crimes, others only want to put their poor decisions behind them and build a new life. I don't see why we should continue to force them to relive their past mistakes. I have had so called "honest" drivers who have stolen from me and abused my equipment. Whether someone has a clean record or felony in their background is not necessarily an indication of what they will do when they come into this industry. We have drug dealers and users in this industry. We also have those who actively seek out lot lizards on a regular basis. This is not a lily white profession. I would like to see those who do drugs and frequent the lot lizards find something else to do with their lives, but these people are just as bad as the worst felon, yet they may never have been convicted of anything.

I try not to prejudge others. I will give someone with a criminal record an extra check. If there is a choice between someone with a criminal record and someone who is clean, then the choice is easy. I will go with the one with a clean background. But, just because someone has a felony in their background is not an automatic disqualifier.

The state of California had a program that helped convicted felons to get their CDL and find jobs in the trucking industry. I don't know if they still have that particular program. They initiated it to help felons reenter society and help them get a new start.

 

Try the Mob or Hell's Angels.

 

The school i went was pretty decent was more then 320 hrs of training and i graduated with 2300 miles verifiable exp the course took 8 weeks and most of the recruiters that came to my school said that they wont hire students from three weeks school no more because they don,t know how to back,shift,drive period,and they were using the name of roadmasters as an example.In my class were 2 drivers that came from roadmasters because when they took the road test from companies they din't pass and they need it to take a refresher or recertification.And the funny part was that both of them quit the school because they couldn't handle the pressure lol.And the cost of my school was $2,206 vs $6,500 roadmasters.If you want to go to school and are from central Florida i recomend Mid Florida Tech.

 

Congrats !!

 

My wifes uncle has a misdemeanor no jail time.
He keeps asking me if the otr companies would hire him,he has no tickets or anything.
He was really in the wrong place at the wrong time,and he still doesn't make excuses.
He doesn't want to pay for school and all of the money going down the tubes,or worse get sent home .
I don't know anything about the law so i thought i would ask you guys.

Btw ask any lawyer if they have a spotless record,one told me there wouldn't but a few(lol)

 

Misdemeanors are not usually much of a problem, depending on the charge and length of time involved. Felonies are more of a challenge. If he wants to get into the business then he needs to start calling carriers, tell them about his criminal history and see what they say. If everything else in his background is clean he should not have much of a problem.