Class A felon....

Ok, I am happy for you being happy.

Now here is a kicker. I hope based on principle that the moneys go to your children. No one else.

Does that make sense to you?

 

You laugh.

When you finish laughing go drive to a rail yard or container port, have a smoke and coffee on the curb by the gate for a while. Eyeball the stuff coming and going.

you will find that the containers themselves are the prettiest. The tractors pulling them are junk some of the time.

 

I really wish people would stop telling a driver they can hide behind a carriers non use of DAC. The FMCSA requires by rule that all carriers MUST begin and maintain a driver qualification file. The carrier MUST do an investigation of drivers history. DAC makes this easy, but not using DAC does not mean a carrier will not be checking driver out. Then if said driver is not totally honest and this is discovered later it is another black mark on driver they DO NOT NEED. Please please stop doing this!

 

In my specific case, working for the dump truck paving out fit we were literally three people. Owner, two trucks, two trailers, backhoe, paver etc. On a farm. He literally was just a small time business paving on a tiny scale not to require logbooks. Not to require much of anything other than a Maryland sticker on the one side and a gold IFTA on the other of the two dump trucks plus tags on the trucks and trailers.

he took care of the money as it was all his business. He paid us according to W2 and cash bonuses on good weeks. Paid us unemployment 4 months every winter. I worked for him 3 years and change. Nothing illegal, nothing dirty. Have been motor carrier inspected by DOT qualified state troopers twice. A complete and total inspection including weighing both times. I had to maintain a class A, medical card and whatever else went with it in my wallet. Other than that we worked as far there was sun to work by.

The reason I said that there is nothing to go on with DAC is because he hired me off the street. 5 minutes after signing a W2, showing him my Class A license and medical card and proving that I know what I am doing with that superliner 500 mack he said with some profanity, be here 6 am in the morning we gots work to do.

To this day everything is above board. When I went to Dowdy in Arkansas back in roughly 98 or so, Dowdy and his people did call that dump truck owning paving boss about me. he told them I was the very best driver he ever had. (And I was compared to the last two he fired before me.) and that was the end of it. No DAC. NO nothing. just a three year verification of my time working a dump truck, paving trailer etc.

Now...

The reason I say to go work for someone really small that owns one or two trucks strictly in state with no logs no nothing provided you have the necessary PTI form signed for the truck in good order each morning after pre-trip and you have a valid CDL, Valid medical card to go with it and so on. In my case I also needed batteries for hearing aids and so on. Completely above board.

But it was a VERY useful situation in my time. I had accrued 7 points, Maryland suspends at 8 points and auto revokes at 12. I stood before a judge to answer for 4 tickets related to speeding and he told me there was enough that day to hammer me for 14 points. But due to my good cooperation etc etc etc (His words...) he assessed me one point making it just 7 in total, a appointment to go to the DMV and get yelled at and made to be scared of losing my license, and pay a certain amount of money in fines.

The following day I continued to apply for work with OTR carriers who all laughed in my face. I can hear the laughing to this day. I started talking to some of my trucking friends in the area one of which was part of the paving operation. He hauled me up into this man's house on the farm and we had a 10 minute conversation while eyeballed me for size.

I was hired. And it was for class B trucking. Strictly local. And sometimes a little bit of cash bonuses where necessary. In fact we would make a habit of stopping at a big box store where people stood on the corner early in the morning to grab a few shovel and pick men. Toss all of them into the back for that work all day. (And boy did they ever work...) some of them earned their way to formal employment.

This was a very long time ago. I have never forgotten that time in my life. If your CDL is so hashed and effed so bad you cannot get a job with a class A trucking company anywhere due to DAC, Tickets, fines, damage, accidents etc etc etc etc etc

Look at the really small operators. They will have you show up next morning ready to go and we will take it from there.