Criminal Background....

I have no need to do a background check on myself, not that I was a perfect little angel.

Here's the deal: You gotta make sure you're hire-able BEFORE you commit to school. If you confess to past criminal activity involving theft, you might have a problem with certian carriers. If you choose to not mention it and they find out you'll be sent packing from orientation. So do the background check on yourself first. If it doesn't show up, no need to say anything. If it does, you can consider Western Express, PAM or CR England as they'll work with criminal backgrounds on a case by case basis. The fact that it wasn't a felony is a big positive in your favor, the fact that it was theft is not. Also, anything outside 10 years is usually OK. You'll never know for sure unless you ask.

What happens is that certian applicants have some kind of atonement obsession or "true confessionals" about their past and they burn themselves. All that matters is what exists as public record that can be found out.

 

I beg to differ with Keyster, If you tell the truth and they still won't hire you keep trying. Sooner or later you may find someone who will give you an opportunity. You said that you made a commitment to your family to tell the truth, so keep that commitment to them. Maybe I'm too "old school" but I still think what a man does when no one is looking or what he thinks they won't find out about, goes DIRECTLY to his character...OR the lack of it. Think about it before you act DavisB....lots of stuff does matter besides "public record" man...it really does........

 

nope drove in the 70's
owned my own truck in the 80's
just coming back a year now

 

I ran with the Pagan's back east, snorted half of Bolivia, stole stuff, etc. and so on; but I don't feel the need to confess malfeasence of the past if it can't be proven in a court of law. You're not dealing with ethics and honor and all that here. You're dealing with attorneys and the vagaries of employment law, HR hiring policies, insurance, etc. If you think there will be a kind-hearted recruiter that will bend company policy just a little bit because you seem like a really honest and upstanding man who has mended his ways, well...good luck with that -- that's not the way the world works however. It's sad, but true.

 

Did not say a thing about bending any companies hiring policy, wouldn't expect that anywhere. My point was to be honest and up front to start with, if you made mistakes in the past , some if not all may follow you forever, that was my point. You can sugarcoat lying or use what ever legalese you want... lying is still lying. I guess we just see things differently. If the OP's bad choices keep him out of trucking then so be it...he made the choices, but to try and say it didn't happen b/c of a legality is just as bad as lying about it.

 

A 20+ year old shoplifting charge should barely pose a problem at all. Don't waste $ on a background check, just be upfront.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think to many companies are worried about what happened 20 years ago. I had a dwi 10 plus years ago and it was no big deal. Just be honest with your convictions. The other stuff shouldn't show up.

 

Same thing about Heath background checks