Advice- tickets, license, future employment

I am currently in school to get my CDL. I have an early spotty criminal record (a felony as an 19 year old for making my friends fake id's to get into bars, and a felony for having purchased what turned out to be stolen property 15 years ago, and several domestics with a volatile relationship I had many years ago.) I currently have 3 traffic tickets I am waiting to fall off my record.

I have been driving for a courier company for 5 years and have a solid employment reference with them. I want very much to complete school and get a good career as an otr driver. I'm uncertain how strict potential employers are, and how they will react to my past record.

Does a my record have to be spotless and have always been? Will this past felony eliminate my job options even though it was years ago? Will even traffic violations keep me from getting hired? Is this due to insurance issues? If so, do employers offer a higher premium option until the violations are removed from my record?

I don't want to continue to pay my full school tuition of $5000 if these issues are going to keep me from employment. The last conversation my instructor and I had yesterday was VERY discouraging regarding future employment. He implied it may be impossible for me to get hired by ANYONE because of my past. I can, and am willing to go get my license on my own. I know I will have no problem passing the test, and have passed all the school training with flying colors so far. But dropping out will eliminate my ability to use the school as a reference. How will getting my license without a training school as reference affect my ability to get hired?

Any advice or referrals you have for me will be greatly appreciated. I have worked towards keeping my nose cleaner than my younger days and I am willing to do the legwork to prove myself to an employer. I have contacted the violations departments in MN, but I learned this week that MN laws have changed this year, it will be 2 years before the traffic violations are dropped from my record.

Thanks for your time,
ebec

 

One for a failure to yield at a traffic light, and one on the same date for no proof of insurance. I was instructed to write a letter to the cop who gave me the ticket to ask him for permission to allow it to be dropped from my record since the fine was lifted when I brought my proof in after. Those were both in Dec of 05. And, unfortunately, I just received a ticket for turning on a red signal last month. That one will be there a while.