Advice on getting first trucking job with felony?

@Chinatown

 

Someone will hire you with a felony. Certain felonies will temporarily disqualify you for a Hazardous Materials HM endorsement for 7 years. Other felonies will disqualify for HM for life. Mostly those are terrorism, trafficking, and some others. Here's the list for temp and permanent DQ of HM. Lots of trucking is done without HM Disqualifying Offenses and Other Factors | Transportation Security Administration

The question for every new driver with something in the background making it difficult to get hired is "do you want to work under the conditions of the companies that hire people with that background." There are many places to work, not all work conditions are the same, the companies that may hire a recent felon may, or may not, be a good place to work. @Chinatown may need to know if you have permission to travel out of state from whoever may supervise you now. EVERY employer and CDL school will require you to pass a drug screen. Failing a drug screen is a big deal. NOBODY cares about your state's opinion about any particular drug. Trucking is in many ways a federally regulated industry and the feds do not accept certain drugs even if your state, or you, or everyone you know has a different opinion. A few companies even go beyond the required urine drug screen and collect hair follicles for a drug screen that goes back maybe 6 months from the test date. Any applicant's opinion about such a hair test is of no consequence to anyone but themself. I am not assuming anything about you. This drug screen topic is VERY frequently an issue with newbies.

 

I sincerely hope trucking works for you. It has helped many of us, me included, turn our life around. Make any company you are interested in working for put you in contact with current drivers at the company doing the work. Talk to those drivers, maybe ask them to give your phone number to that other employee. Then ask them to describe their work day, how much new drivers make doing that work, and the type of schedules that new-hires work, plus anything else important to you. Ignore what the company website or any company recruiter tells you. AT BEST, those comments are the maximum possible good situation in perfect circumstances. They are like a car ad, not a driver review of the company. Some trucking companies have a section on this forum for their drivers to discuss the company. Most drivers on this forum have worked for numerous companies so ask away about specific companies.

 

Here are a few posts of mine for newbies to read.
Money for CDL Training
Every new CDL driver needs Tanker endorsement.
Passing your CLP/CDL Endorsement Tests - HowTo
Check Company Score - SAFER WEB

 

Robertson's hires felons and also trains for a CDL, plus you can stay local.
Robertson's Ready Mix Home | Concrete & Aggregate …
SECURErrmca.com

 

Robertsons is Southern California and Las Vegas/Clark County, Nevada runs.

 

Robertson's will work with you on not leaving the state.