Age discrimination

I also heard that rumor.

 

The one true fact, trucking companies do not care at what age they screw you over.see no distinction are all.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;3973385]Hi tumblin, I too am 59, and even though I've driven trucks for 35 years, I've been out of the loop for about 8 years. I've been thinking of getting back into trucking until retirement, but have been told, companies are skeptical of people that have a gap in their job status, without some sort of refresher course. I almost feel that's a slap in the face, as I've driven 2.5 million miles without an accident or ticket(except stupid overweight) and I have to answer to someone half my age to prove I can drive a truck? Another example, I thought of running a forklift, and some kid asked me if I had my forklift certification. I said nicely,"Look son, I've been running forklifts since before you were born". Didn't matter, without a certification, he couldn't hire me. It's just where we're at now a days, experience doesn't seem to matter near as much as that piece of paper. Best of luck, "semi" retired[/QUOTE]

I currently work as a retail clerk and see age discrimination there also. Many companies would rather pay less in wages to a much younger person without experience than to pay extra to an experienced person who knows or cares about what they are doing.

The problem with this philosophy is that the young kid without experience often causes a lot of damage by ticking off customers or not knowing their product. Also, the kid without experience quite often does NOT take the job seriously, whereas a much older adult often has a much more mature attitude and will treat his or her job like the "goldmine", (figuratively speaking), that it is. The turnover rate for younger kids is much higher than that of older adults.

 

What it comes down to is your driving test with the company. not your age this is the only market that needs you more than you need them. I run HHG and I am 53 I do not get by a week that a company does not ask me to work for them.

 

thats not true

i've dealt with plenty of companies that won't talk to you unless you're over the age of 24/25

 

When I started all I heard was "25 and 2 years experience.". Fortunately I found a farmer who had 2 trucks leased to an end dump outfit that was willing to hire me. He just required me to ride with his other driver for a couple weeks but he paid me 20 bucks a day for it!!

 

That's insurance related. In order to have 2-3 years OTR experience, as required by some companies, you would HAVE to be 24/25.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;3973385]Hi tumblin, I too am 59, and even though I've driven trucks for 35 years, I've been out of the loop for about 8 years. I've been thinking of getting back into trucking until retirement, but have been told, companies are skeptical of people that have a gap in their job status, without some sort of refresher course. I almost feel that's a slap in the face, as I've driven 2.5 million miles without an accident or ticket(except stupid overweight) and I have to answer to someone half my age to prove I can drive a truck? Another example, I thought of running a forklift, and some kid asked me if I had my forklift certification. I said nicely,"Look son, I've been running forklifts since before you were born". Didn't matter, without a certification, he couldn't hire me. It's just where we're at now a days, experience doesn't seem to matter near as much as that piece of paper. Best of luck, "semi" retired[/QUOTE]

As long as you've kept your CDL the whole time, you should have no problem finding a job with a less than 100 truck company. 10-20 trucks and your odds are much better. If you let your CDL go, it's time for school.

 

Thanks forty, I'm good till 2018, and by then SS should kick in(if there's any left in the fund, that is) I did consider moving to California( to be closer to my kids) and found out, I had to surrender my Wis. CDL, and start all over. It seems most states require that.

 

One of the new things since you drove would be learning E-logs and possibly qualcomm usage. Some companies may have those simulators also, like Prime.

Myy husband is 63 and I have heard of people on here over 70 and still driving.
Just find you a good company.