help! my attempt to get back into trucking have proven unsuccessful.

my attempt to get back into trucking have proven unsuccessful.

i started trucking with USA truck(dont blame me too much, it was job placement from a school) in august 08 after 5 months and two minor accidents i was terminated(one was a fence that was bent at a shipper and the other was a fender from another truck, my truck was not damaged) both were my fault and i state them as well as admit them on the applications. i was awards unemplyment for what the state of ohio determined to be wrongful termination(at will state or not) this was a time that not only the econmoy was in a dive but also i had my mother was dying at home and i wanted to be with her in the final tiem i had left(my father passed on in sept of 08 right in between being out with a trainer and going for the upgrade to solo driver). during my time at USA i did my time and i enjoyed driving for the most part but being let go it afforded me the time to spend with my mother and look for a local job (either driving or not) I also had two pets i wanted to spend more time with too. it seems great time to be afforded this. i looked but didnt find much..in march my brother moved my mom down to florida (she was in Ohio where i was) for hopefully a better health and breathing. while still lookign for work, my brother convinced me that there was work to be had down in florida. so i thought why not try it. but int he month it took to start preparing for that, my mom went into a coma, i rushed down here and once we did the gut wrenching decision to pull the plug and let God take over, she passed away a few days later.

they convinced me that i could find work so i can back to Ohio and packed my stuff, includign the pets and moved down to Florida with them....this proved disastrous, which i wont elaborate on.

which brings me to now. I am really at the end of the rope and i really remember that I did like trucking and everyday was an adventure for me. i now have no reason to stay anywhere and decided to get back into..not thinking there would be a problem as i have my CDL and my DAC doesnt seem terrible(really I dont know if what USA put is generic or something like a blackball) when applying for companies, they first response i got was from the first choice(i wont tell their names) said their policy was the couldnt hire me because i didnt have much in the last three years. having not been emplyed since then, i didnt have six months recent employment(seems like a "well duh" to me) but i ws polite and moved on. I figured there was a thousand companies out there wantign a drive. I figured myself to be a very good candiate for OTR. i have no home or people i need to come home to so i can stay out indefinite until i might want a few days off. i have my CDL which is current and no points or anything on it. so while I am rusty, i figured they will put me with a trainer anyhow..and if i live out of the truck, i just have my cellphone bill and food, so starting out on the bottom again payscale wise is fine..i know i have to start there.

but then i get a call from another huge company that said they need six months recent expereince driving to hire me...discouraging..

i am not sure how to over come this and i ask for advice on what to do.

i want to get back in and this time stay in it. I need a job of course.

i have heard of a company that will hire you but you have to front some money to them for them to overlook it

what i wonder is, when i tell them the reason i got out, i dont tell them all of this, wasn't sure it would matter, but the only reason i think i am not getting anywhere is the recruiter just assumes i am not giving the full details as to why i was let go, even if i state it on the application and they just decide to move on tot eh next person.

one idea i had was to write all of this down including details pertaining to the situation and reply it back int eh email the recruiter sends me, where as they might read it and get past the preconceived notion i think they have done.

the other is posting this for advice, i also hope a recruiter might be reading it and it might stir someone to go a little further. when i am with a company I try to stick to it as much as possibe

i admit at USA truck, i was new to it adn i didnt like somethings that happened but it is part of the game and you bide your time

so i am hear to ask for advice of fellow truckers and hopefully get a way back into trucking. i never thought it would prove difficult especially with having soem expereince and my CDL, really thoguht i would have offeres and not rejections(the two so far)

i will do what i have to do (within reason) to get back in

and i am not a resident of florida, just staying with family, going back up to ohio in a few weeks. I say this because it seems very hard to get hired in florida

thanks
Don

p.s. please no negative crap, like run away or you don't want to get back in..I know what i want and i am aware of some of the pitfalls of the lifestyle/job. i will accept them

 

I am willing to start out with the larger ones such as swift and us express and werner.. have not called.. i did get discouraged with JB hunt turning me down and Prime too. i know it wont be easy but I am giving up a great deal to get back in, and i dont want it to be in vain.

i have another option i thought of, the driver school i was with, driver solutions, talked about lifetime placement with the companies they hire to. that will not be a definate but if i can start the ball rolling then maybe in a few months they can get me in somewhere. anywhere.

i did hear of one company that wanted them to get a 500 up front fee to get back to it. I dont know if that is a bribe or a refresher or what.

how would you find someone that has their fleet with a company.. I only know of the major paths like calling from contacts on t eh internet such as layover.com or truckdriver.com

maybe i will have better luck. I think i was assuming that JB hunt was less stringent like werner swift etc

 

so i am assuming the preventable where the small incidents i had. i didn't think they would be that serious but i guess i was wrong. neither were reportable and dont show up on the DAC, but what USA put on the report sounds like a blanket statement to me. it has death,property damage or needing a tow, so to me that seems like a wide range of things and thus a blanket statement

i wont give up hope, i cant