Career change

Hi everyone,
I have a class A Cdl I obtained about 15 yrs ago working for a local Pepsi company. I worked there for a yr took a much higher paying factory job worked there for almost 6yrs. Until being laid off I live in a somewhat small town where there is not many jobs within a hour to hour and half drive. I'm considering going into trucking as it seems to be the only job with stability. My problem is I can't find anyone who will hire me without recent experience or without OTR experience. Can anyone give me some pointers as to which would be the best way to go or any recommendations. Thanks in advance.

 

Refresher school would be something for you. Even myself they would send to refresher school. Half of my experience is not verifiable anymore because those companies are out of existence. There is nothing to verify to.

Companies go back 7 to 10 years for Homeland Security purposes including any gaps between employment explained with what you did or were doing (Such as caregiving for elderly relative for example..)

Stability and trucking do not go together. Your first year OTR would be the most dangerous should you hit something, whoops and you find out that they are going to not only apply a preventable against you in the DAC but also make you unemployed at any time.

Things have seriously changed in this industry. The old way of doing things 15 years ago does not apply any more here. Computers are in the trucks which will make sure you will stay wherever you're out of hours at for example. And many companies have been truly bad if not outright abusive towards newbies disposing of them or imposing excessive problems for them to overcome.

If that is not all, the quality of trucking as a whole are not the Kings of the Road that we were once long ago. Those days are gone. Just a memory for the dwindling numbers who lived it.

I can go on, but small town america has a real problem in this Global Economy to stay revelant. Too many are being boarded up and out of business when it's very easy for someone to see something online and have it delivered tomorrow.

At some point in the future after I am gone mind you, robot trucks will roll. Humans will not have anything of value to do. We would have become a enormous and excessive burden on a company's ability to hold a profit while everything else inflates beyond your ability to make any money at .36 a mile.

 

Don't look a conventional avenues for trucking. Meaning don't apply to big trucking companies. It is a waste of time. They got rules and stipulations on who they can hire.

Go drive truck for some farmer, construction contractor, wrecker, or yard jockey service or the like. LTL, Parcel, beverage, and food service might even take you. The big guys will not touch you. The smaller OTR companies cannot do anything their insurance won't let them.

You can do a refresher, but in my opinion that is just a waste. The jobs that require that are not even worth it in the first place.

 

Yes. You will probably need to start off like every other new CDL driver, however if your driving and backing skills are present at hire time, you might be able to cut your apprentice time (trainee driver) significantly at some companies. I say this because I too remained out of trucking for about 6 years, I had done flatbed 10 years earlier, but when I returned, I called TMC. (Keep in mind this was roughly 15 years ago). They wanted a refresher course at a place of my choosing. That refresher course was shortened due to my obvious skills and was issued a certificate of completion. TMC then brought me in to Des Moines. Spent a few days in orientation, did numerous tests, and was about to start securement training phase when was called out for road test. Passed that with flying colors and was expedited out to a trainer. That was limited to 3 weeks due to my performance. They reimbursed my refresher tuition costs in about 6 months. I Stayed there for 2 years until I moved on to "other adventures".

Point is, there are some who will expedite the process and some who will not, given you can make a solid impression at the right times.

 

Where is your location?
Since you already have a cdl, that's a big plus. A fresh physical and you'll be ready to roll.
Let us know your location and we can give you a few ideas/options to get you started.

 

Thanks for the input fellas. I'm in Tuscaloosa, Al. I got lucky and found someone today that will take me on after 1st of year. The company is local and is a dedicated run from Tuscaloosa Al. To somewhere in South Carolina and or Texas hauling auto parts for the local Mercedes Benz plant here. Maybe then I can get on with Averitt hauling local. Thanks for everyone's advice it helped a lot I'll post updates when I learn more

 

I don’t get the employment gap reasoning business. I have one or two month gaps in employment here and there and it has no reflection at all of work ethic. Not all of us live paycheck to paycheck. There’s no rule that says I shall be employed 100% of the time. 95% is more than adequate. I should not have to explain why I took a month off.

 

I spent the last 5 yrs taking care of my grandfather and his property, he past away in Oct. I am hoping i don't get to much hassle over my time away from so called proper employment.

 

Put on the application you were a "caregiver" for your grandfather. You took care of him and his property. Some companies may request a notorized letter signed by a family member or friend attesting to this. Many drivers on here have been through the same or similar situation and had no problem with trucking employment.

 

It’s BS. I’ve never understood that employment gap idea. What you’ve been doing for the last 5 years is no ones business... unless what you were doing is experience they are looking for.