Unique position in life

Work history shouldn’t be a problem as long as you can prove that you were out on disability. That’ll satisfy the work history requirement.

Not sure how you can avoid talking about your disability when talking with potential employers. Your disability will probably have to be explained somewhat due to reason above..work history.

I would probably try getting a DOT physical done and see if you can get cleared for a two year certification. You’re going to need it anyway for the CDL school. Should be somewhere around $80-$120. fill out the medical questionnaire accurately but don’t give more information than is necessary.

Same with potential employers. Stick to basic facts that satisfy the questions without rambling on shooting your self in the foot. Unnecessary personal information just keep to yourself.

The failure rate in this industry is extremely high. Reality of the job vs outsiders perception usually clash and they fail or just move on in short order.

Personally I’d think long and hard about giving up your disability benefits when the odds of making it trucking are stacked against you. However it’s your choice to make and I respect that.

fwiw..if there’s a Sage Truck Driving school nearby, that’s the one you want. Will be through a college and it’s one on one driving.

Good luck!

 

"It will HAVE to be brought up to any employer that I have been on disability."
No. You are too honest, look what happened with Swift. Applications ask if you have a disability, I have never seen or heard of one that asks if you have been on it or collected. I would check the disability box. You have worked, just not a full time job. You say that your mother is disabled, you look after her and help her. You stretch the amount of work that you have done on your own. Keep personal info to a minimum. Only answer what they ask. Same thing that is said about testifying in court.
You don't want anyone to think that you have not worked because of your disability. Your disability has not kept you from traveling or doing work, you just have not had a full-time job.
Your disability has not gone away so why would anyone take a chance on you if you still have the disability, have not worked full time because of it, but all of a sudden want to work? Your financial or potential financial situation is irrelevant.

 

Yes it is, but see here is the difference between you and others/me. We have been around this industry for years, we know what it takes to get hired and what a poor or crap driver is. IF we just answer your question by writing fluff stuff that you want to hear, then we do you an injustice but more importantly we add to the problems that we have in this industry.

However, if we challenge you, we tell you the hard truth and all of the other things you think is crap, then it is to better equip you for this industry if you do decide to push through with the idea.

Like it or not we are being really mild here.

Actually I did.

There it is, I want to know why, I don't want to hear the typical "i always wanted to be a truck driver" crap but a true inside look at why, what this will do for you (other than money), and so on.

research how?

This is the first time I am reading anything from you, so this is where you start. Watching videos, listening to those super truckers, well nope.

Yes, you start here and you go to a truck stop and you ask questions.

Now the problem is this - when you start with a book of your life (*which isn't really wrong), you lay everything out there, many won't dig deeper into it for you, they will just give you a canned response and that's it.

So it is a two way street, it starts with you not being defensive, stop taking things personally as if we all know who you are, and most of all, listening to all opinions whether you like them or not (OR OR whether they fit your needs).

That tells me you really need to listen more than anyone else.

See going out and doing work isn't the same as working for someone else. 5 or 25 or 100 years without answering to someone about the work or having someone to trust you with a huge responsibility really matters a lot.

Yes read it again ...

I hire drivers, I am no longer drive.

Nope you didn't in your replys but your opening post screamed it. As others said, don't delve into it, companies do not care, they do not.

Training gets you a cdl, it does not get you to the point to drive one safely.

See the most important lesson I learned when I was driving a truck (long before CDL crap) was how easy it is to drive a truck, but what is hard is knowing what to do when something goes wrong. I think with todays' lack of real training coupled with the trucks that drive like large station wagons, we have more unsafe, crap drivers.

nope not wrong, especially about that subject.

 

I think your lack of work history is your biggest obstacle.

Also, trucking is not stress free. Actually there is quite a bit of stress. Do you think you can handle the stress?

 

While your personality may be well suited to doing this job, the fact you have little or no work history, plus an extensive medical history means the chances of you getting hired for normal CDL jobs is slim. DO NOT WASTE your time and anybody's money getting a CDL just to see what happens. Use whatever money is available to start another trade besides truck driving.

THERE IS NO TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE. Many newbies with nothing in their background are waiting a long time to get hired. You will wait a lot longer than they will. There are other ways to make a living. Do one of them. There are lots of people online and on YouTube that work infrequently at seasonal jobs and take care of themselves. One YT channel doing this in AdventureVanMan. He works on the North/South Dakota Sugar Beet harvest for a few weeks, he works on a fishing boat in Alaska for a few weeks, works as a camp site host for a few weeks, etc. In a year he might work 3-6 months per year and live all year on the money he earns in those few work periods. Don't focus on 1 job that will fix all of your problems. Focus on 1 job at a time.

 

Periods of SSDI count towards the employment history required. This is a non issue, just look it up on fmcsa. I wasn’t guessing when I posted previously.

search words to try..
“fmcsa ssdi employment history”

 

If you are going to watch enough fake TV news to convince yourself the world is ending, you didn't want any help. You wanted people to recognize your excuse for giving up. The same fake TV people that idolized Musk a year ago are now calling him satan now until they decide someone else is satan. I've lived through 5 or 6 "they're gonna cut all the benefit check" produced hysteria events. This one is just the first you might remember. Because you have been reliant on govt checks you are living as if govt checks are life, they are not. People get jobs and live without govt checks, so can you. But it's easier to build an hysterical reaction and build a life so people build the hysterical reaction. The people that make money off of you having that govt reaction are creating the "doomsday news" to get what they want. They are using you. Getting a job is how you control your life. Staying on govt checks is how you stay in the prison they built for you. Truck driving is not for you, but there are jobs that are for you.