Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Idk. Seems pretty rough to overcome. Prime here said they won't touch me for 5 years at least, and my backup LTI said they wouldn't for 1 year from conviction. I've found a couple companies that said yes so far (Western Express and Paschall), but I keep hearing/seeing so many horror stories about them. I know my first year will be rough, but I'm also not looking to get completely screwed.
Idk...Maybe I'm just psyching myself out. I know you have to take 95% of what most other drivers say with a hatfull of salt.

 

Those last 2 sentences are true. On this thread; however, we don't BS anyone asking us how it is here at Abilene. We BS each other A LOT, but we are a pretty straightforward group when it comes to that.

 

I appreciate that. I'm a grown ### adult, so give it to me straight.
Like I said, I know everything's not puppies and rainbows, and I have firsthand experience being treated like ####/just another dough-producer with my first company. I'm just trying to find someone who's definitely gonna give me miles and not screw me on paying for them. Sure, I'm used to making only $1000 a month if I'm lucky, but that's why I'm going back to this: because I'm at my best when I'm driving, and it's the only way I can make a career for myself at this point. But I'd rather put up with some of the bull #### in this industry than I do daily right now.
I mean, ####, I'm working at a call center and living out of a shelter. It can only go uphill from here, no matter who I go with.

 

I feel ya on the crappy companies. Took me 3 times to find Abilene. First 2 companies were awful. Here, not so much. The real reason I chose this company to start with? Because it's only 65 miles from my house and if it didn't work, I wouldn't have far to go to get back home. No bs. The reason I have stayed? Just look at a lot of my posts over the past year or so. I'm on FMLA. They have been really good to me during all this mess I'm dealing with. As a matter of fact, I got a call from local dispatch yesterday asking if I could possibly help them out. I couldn't, but have no issues doing so if I possibly can. Will you have as good a relationship as JohnBoy? Probably not. But if you listen to your trainer, learn and get your loads delivered on time, you won't have any issues.

 

I went through CDL school with a guy who, like you, had a fresh misdemeanor conviction. He was in your same boat. Everybody was telling him "five years after conviction". Even Abilene, when he first applied. He ended up going with Paschall. And he wasn't happy with them. But what could he do, right? They were one of the few who would hire him.

After only a few months with Paschall, he'd had enough. And in the meantime, he'd seen me talk up Abilene on my Facebook page. He really wanted to work for Abilene, and lamented the fact that he couldn't due to his misdemeanor.

So I went and had a conversation with Alan Jones, the president of the company. And the bottom line is this:

-Abilene will, on a case-by-case basis, give consideration to people with misdemeanor convictions. Doesn't mean that it's a guaranteed hire, but they have waived the five year period in the past. So if you get the initial rejection, don't let that alone stop you.

-Don't try to lie or hide anything. Call recruiting, tell 'em you have a misdemeanor, tell 'em why. Be up front, aboveboard, and honest.

-The exact misdemeanor you have will affect your chances of getting hired. Some misdemeanors are worse than others when it comes to how much of a chance the company is willing to take on you. The bigger the risk you are to the company and/or its employees, the lower your chances of getting hired.

-A one-time mistake is better than a long-term pattern of trouble with the law. If your misdemeanor is just the latest in a series of misdemeanors stretching back for years, that's a bigger hurdle than a clean record with one lapse in judgement.

After my conversation with Alan Jones, my buddy reapplied and they did offer him a job.

But keep in mind: All of the above was told to me back when Abilene was its own company. Abilene has since been purchased by Knight-Swift, so some or all of the foregoing may have been overridden by new company policy.

 

As long as we're talking about the law, I had to go to court today for a speeding ticket I got back in December. I got it in the truck while driving US460 back from Chesapeake. RebelChick can attest to it because she drove past me and gave me the hairy eyeball while I was on the side of the road having a chat with the nice police officer.

One of the first things I did when I got into the truck last year was to sign up for the Legalshield Commercial Drivers service. It's basically legal insurance for truckers. Pay 'em a monthly fee and, should you find yourself on the business end of a ticket that could put points on your record, they'll hook you up with a lawyer. The lawyer works on your behalf to reduce the ticket, and there are no additional lawyer fees beyond what you're paying monthly for the service (though you may still have to pay a fine and/or court costs).

This was my first time to use the service. And since the court is only an hour and a half from my house, I took the day off to go to court.

Walked in the door, met my lawyer. He said he'd already talked to the police officer, and the officer had agreed to request that the ticket be lowered to "defective speedometer", which is still a fine but doesn't show up on your record and doesn't cost any points. So that was groovy.

But then, as I sat there waiting for my turn in court, my lawyer talked a bit more with the officer. And then came back to me and said "The officer is going to request a dismissal." I dunno what he said to the dude, but he was earning his fee this morning.

Sure enough, when they called my name, I went up to the judge along with the officer and the lawyer. The officer said "I'm requesting a dismissal", the lawyer said "Obviously we have no objections," and that was that. The judge didn't speak to me or ask me any questions. He barely looked at me. No fine, no court fees, no points, nothing on my record, nada. Just "Thank you, Mr. Unction, have a nice day."

So right now I'm feeling pretty good about Legalshield's Commercial Drivers service.

 

I remember something like that when I was with CR England. In fact, I'm almost positive it was the same company. Definitely will take it if available.

 

I'll definitely try reaching out to them. The worse thing they can say at this point is No.