Am i doomed?

It is because of the market, we have too many drivers and it is a carrier’s employment market so carriers can be very selective on who they hire.

 

It's also your location. It is difficult to impossible for new drivers coming out of South Florida to break into the industry. It is a bad freight recession which is making it hard for drivers, even at times experienced ones, to find jobs. The thing with South Florida is that loads are not plentiful coming out of there, so that makes for insultingly cheap freight, even when times are good. Companies will go in there but either have to take a cheap load or dead head out of there, either way, it's a loss to the company.

Here's a suggestion: if you have family that lives in better freight lanes, use their address to get started so you can get experience. If you need to go home to Florida, you'll need to think about flying home and flying back to the truck for the first year or 2. Once you get experience, it'll be a little easier to get work with your Florida address, but you'll still have limited options. The idea is to get experience under your belt...then things will start to open up.

 

Florida Rock Tank Lines

Home - Sunstate Carriers

Flatbed Truck Driving Jobs | Regional Jobs | Cypress Truck Lines, Inc.

Freight & Logistics Company South Florida | MCI Express Trucking Services

Careers | SEFL

 

Move north of I-4

 

Have you tried applying for Ready-mix, Dump truck, box truck or jockey truck jobs in the area?

 

Do you have ANYTHING in your background that companies would classify as not perfect? For example, do you have a solid work history, no gaps in employment, never fired? Do you have a criminal record? Do you have a perfectly clean driving records, no tickets, no wrecks, no DUIs, etc? Do you have a high school diploma/GED?

South FL is an especially bad place for trucking jobs. There are local jobs with food service, beverage delivery, and container/port jobs but often not much more. Being in South FL puts you outside lots of trucking company hiring areas. Not much freight comes OUT of south FL (and the state as a whole) so companies don't like to hire drivers in South FL because it's hard to get them home. Companies have the experience of hiring drivers from your area that say they don't care about getting home often but then start making demands later or become upset later when they don't get home and those drivers leave for another company.

 

You mentioned your age; how old are you?
How close are you to Miami?
Which town are you in or near?
Will you run teams for a few months, just to get the career started?

 

Hey Ty, don’t stress.
I’ve been in the business for years and I’ve seen plenty of new drivers struggle to get their first job. Age or experience can make it harder but it’s not impossible. Start with companies that run training programs or regional routes because they are used to bringing in fresh CDL holders. Keep applying and stay patient.

When you land that first gig, it will open doors to bigger opportunities down the road.