Felons

No cdl yet gonna start working on that any suggestions

 

Driving a truck is one of the best options ex cons have. Good luck and god speed. Congratulations on figuring out one of the ways to escape the penal system long term.

 

Narrow thoughts with a short view. Highly untrue. I made 65-70k a year in manufacturing before I changed careers. Yes all my crap is long in the past.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you probably had skills before you went in. If you didn't congratulations on finding two exits lol. Most people exiting the penal system don't have a lot of options and end up circling the drain by default in my experience. I've worked with a lot of ex felons at car dealerships. If you're charming selling cars isn't a bad option either.

 

It was 20 years ago when it happened. The only exit is a personality change. You either forget and repeat, or remember and recover. Sure it was a long line of crap jobs after the fact, however I was determined to have more out of life.

I worked my way up after. Short spell in fast food, to being a waiter, then found a job driving a 4 wheeler van for a expediting company. After a few months moved into dispatch with a nice raise. Got burned out doing dispatch/driving on occasion and working in the warehouse for a sears account they had. Moved on to being a Metal tender for a small zinc casting shop for 2 years then moved up to a large aluminum manufacturer pouring aluminum ingots for almost 7 years. I'd still be there if I didn't relocate for my ex's health issues.

I've had a Class B for 13 years and only used it for a 6 month gig until my boss got underbid on the route by another company. Long story short is how I got into trucking. Luckily had enough left in the bank to pay for school at the CC. Got hired right out of school. The rest is just history in the making.

All I'm saying is with the right attitude you can excel at whatever it is you choose.

 

Charming only gets you through an interview and maybe a few brownie points. I've always been the type to get dirty and do blue collar stuff. That's usually how I've always landed a gig. Do work, bs later.

 

Most car dealerships will hire anyone with a pulse and social skills. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Get through the interview and they'll hire you. Now whether they'll keep you for any length of time depends on whether you have 'what it takes'. (which is really a combination of dumb luck, raw charisma and how many hours you're willing to stand in the sun in the beginning)

EDIT: I sold cars because I was 19, broke as hell, and my generally worthless dad was at home drunk on the couch. I had younger brothers to feed and I'd just dropped out of College for the first of three times. I needed money and I wasn't going to get it doing any of my other options. I spent a couple years as a salesman, 6 months as a manager, and then was the #2 guy in the service department at a different store in a different city for a year and a half. After all of that I can definitively say that I'll never work for a car dealer again. They are generally the worst employers out there. I hate retail sales so ####ing much.

I should say now that I'm no charmer. I was a very bad fit for the car business in retrospect. I'm the wrong kind of charming. I'm not particularly good looking and at the time I was too young to know how to inhabit my own skin without constantly ####ing it up. It turns out the secret to being genuine and charming at the same time is what you DON'T say. Everything you say is something you're fine with, you just keep a lot of your thoughts to yourself. Those you post on the internet lol.

 

I'm a felon and other than straight outta trucking school, I've never been rejected by a company. And the companies who wouldn't hire me outta school were Werner, Covenant, Conway, etc so it worked out well not having to work for a puppy mill like that. I'd have probably quit within a couple months had I been exposed to their bs

 

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm sure there are a lot of recently released guys who should hear it so that they know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

TransAm, SRT, and Carolina Cargo should be among the 1st three to apply to if you have a checkered past.

Not saying to go to any of them. But, assume that you may not like the 1st company that offers you a prehire. At least you know that you qualify at a few, rather than be back in the same boat, posting for info.

Apply to LOTS of carriers. My advice. Get a couple of them to say "ok, application has been approved. Our orientation is on blah blah blah."

I say that last part only because, the recruiter has a job. To fill seats. You're gonna fill out an application and give permission to run this check and that check all over again on day one. Only difference is, now it's more of an interview. It may seem costly, but get court certified documents pertaining to any and all charges. Better to have them and not need them than to need them.and not have them.

Just in case scenario 1 doesn't pan out, at least you've got some leads lined up already.