need help for new driver-felony issues

I am taking a shot here because I tend to believe that truckers are probably some of the realest people out there, and we need some real good advice right now.

My husband just started training at America's Driving Force this week. He is being funded by the Workforce Investment Act. He and I have been married over 7 years, and ever since I met him he has wanted to be a trucker.

My husband got convicted of a felony in 1992 when he was 17. He was charged w/two counts burglary and one count rape (vic was college student). So needless to say, he's also a registered sex offender. He did a ten year bid and got out in 2002 w/no probation or parole. You can see I've been with him most of that time, and I know him well. I know that he is not that person he used to be, he's very spiritual, doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs. He's been a good family man and has done everything he can to be a good provider for our family (we have three sons, my two oldest by my previous marriage). He has always stayed current and compliant w/his offender registration requirements as per state law (which is so much fun here in GA as they are the most restrictive-we can't even live together!)

He's always known that he has limited options due to his background and charges. He chose the trucking industry b/c he figured it would be his best bet at having an actual career in spite of his past. He got his GED while in prison but after release was only able to get cooking or fast food restaurant jobs, or car detailing. Even still, a lot of jobs he held would not last long because once the background was discovered, the job was no more. Some companies procrastinated about doing a check for a couple of months giving us false hope, but it would have the same result in the end.

He worked for dunkin donuts the longest, a two year stint. I guess they never did the check or something, but they ended up firing him a year and a half ago due to economic downsizing. He has tried to find work since then, but has been unemployed for 18 mos despite his best efforts. We are hoping getting his CDL will change things.

As you know a lot of the companies start courting trainees while they are in school. Yesterday my husband brought home a bunch of applications to fill out over the weekend (swift, werner, schneider, covenant, of those I remember). ALL of them have the question he and I dread, asking if he's EVER been convicted of a felony. He asked his instructor how far back the checks go, and he said depending on the company it could go back 7 or 10 years, or to age 18. Others go back to "anything". Of course we don't know which companies check how far back, but with the question we are not sure to mark "no" hoping they don't go back far enough to find it (and if they did risk him looking like an untrustworty liar) or mark "yes" and have those who wouldn't have known otherwise stop his application right there. I know these companies can deal dirty to protect their own interests, so we're just trying to be clever in protecting ours. So is honesty the best policy about disclosing this type of information or not? And if it is, which companies that take newly CDL'd hires are most "friendly" about past criminal records?

I am pretty sure my husband wouldn't be the only trucker out there w/a record, who got into the industry for similar reasons. There are a lot of good people who have bad pasts and are trying to live the rest of their lives doing the opposite of what they did before. So I am hoping those of you experienced with this type of issue can help in any way.

Just FYI I work full time and can pay our regular bills and expenses out of my own income. So even if a company he can start his career with, without fear of being fired over his past pays very little, we are fine with that. We know that good things come with time, and I have read enough posts on here to get a fair idea of the upside and downside of the lifestyle and we're both ready for the adventure. He's willing to do what it takes in the beginning to get on the road to having a successfull long term career in the end. However I will say that even though he is willing to be on the road most of the month (not looking for something to be home every weekend) he does hope he can at least get 4-5 days off a month in one chunk to visit his family. So if any of the companies are good with that too, please mention it.

Sorry this ended up being somewhat long, but we just want to see a bright future for my husband because his past threatens it at every turn. I know he deserves to have some hope for as much as he's done to try to turn it around on his own. Thank you so much for any advice you have for us.

 

Thank you for the response Big Don. The hazmat endorement aspect is not one I would've known about to consider or factor in. Do you happen to know what kind of charges or how far back they are factor into getting that endorsement or not?

I didn't mean to sound tacky about asking the "what do we mark question". I'm a naive and honest girl and when I first met my husband I told him to always be honest on job applications, so he would always put yes and try to include an explanation of some sort. Needless to say those applications never got him an interview, except once. He actually was hired by the manager of the store for that restaurant in question, but once his area manager found out about that hire he told the hiring mgr to let him go b/c he was not cool with it. It seemed like weighing not getting a job at all by answering yes was worse than answering no and not being discovered for a few weeks and at least getting a few weeks worth of pay, because at that time I was not working and we were dependent upon whatever income he could bring in. I am not saying it's the best practice, but I'm sure we're not the only family whose had to do what we've had to do to make ends meet.

But now with the start of a new career we're hoping to give him the best odds, so re-evaluating our approach from what we did in the past is the reason for my post. I don't want him to feel desperate anymore, I want him to feel like there's a chance at success. And I agree with you, the school he's at isn't going to be the best guage of that, and in some cases neither are company recruiters. Do you happen to know, based on what you said about the local sand haulers etc being an area to look, are they willing to hire folks much if they're straight out of a 3 week training school? I heard most local jobs want at least a year or two of experience, which is why the reason most new graduates go to the big companies to be used and abused to get that under their belt.

 

Thank you, but he doesn't have a probation officer. As far as the registration issue we were kinda hoping he could get some type of interstate route and get his own place in another state w/less restrictive laws (as far as where his address can be) on his route, and register as a home state there annually like he used to do before the laws here changed. Of course that's only based on what the states require, I wasn't sure if you were meaning that the companies themselves have their own requirements if they employ registered offenders?

 

Yes he was honest with her, but quite honestly she had just been hired and was learning things herself and I don't think she knew anything of anything to give him any type of advice on that.