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Bad news for my driving hopes (rant)

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by WhiteHawk, Jul 17, 2009.

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  1. Jul 17, 2009 #1
    WhiteHawk

    WhiteHawk Bobtail Member

    27
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    May 21, 2009
    Nashville, TN
    0
    Caution: Rant ahead...

    I talked to a Werner recruiter yesterday, and like most recruiters, she tried to give the minimal answers and get off the phone as quick as possible. But I said "now hold on, I'd like to give you a bit of background and see if if you're still interested in hiring me before I go through the expense of a CDL school".

    I told her that although I had enjoyed a spotless record for over ten years, and I used to drive OTR back in '96 and had a clean record then, I had received a speeding ticket on I-440 in the spring of last year, and had an accident with my motorcycle where I was injured this past February. She said the ticket alone meant they couldn't hire me, and they would have to wait until a year had passed since my motorcycle accident anyway.

    The ticket was for 71 in a 55, the same one everybody gets on I-440 since the limit was lowered. It doesn't matter that it's more dangerous to try to do 55 with all the SUV drivers flying up on you while on their cellphones (I know because I've tried), and it doesn't matter that one doesn't drive an 18-wheeler the same way one rides a sportbike (or drives a Porsche, for that matter). Nor does it matter that I had a clean record as an OTR driver when I was younger and less mature than I am now, any more than it matters that I have 20 years of experience racing sports cars (without a single incident) and 15 years as a track instructor.

    This is where these "no tolerance" policies come up short. Somebody who has never had to drive more than a few miles a week out in a rural area can get a trucking job because they have a "clean" record for their smidgen of driving experience, while I can't get the same job with my decades of high-level experience, because of two bits of rotten luck. The people at the insurance sompanies that come up with these "no thought" policies are frickin' idiots. I'd like to take a few of them out to the track and give them a personal demostration.

    Rant over, headed for the fridge...
     
    WhiteHawk, Jul 17, 2009
    WhiteHawk, Jul 17, 2009
    #1
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  3. Jul 17, 2009 #2
    TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    You live in Music. Theres a buttload of smaller companies in your area. Walk in and talk to the owner (hows that for open door policy), explain to him your situation and see if he will give you a gig. Sell your soul to rock and roll. Chances are, you will like it better than a big outfit anyway.

    OR, buy your own truck. Credit schmedit....down payment is the key.
     
    TripleSix, Jul 17, 2009
    TripleSix, Jul 17, 2009
    #2
    WhiteHawk Thanks this.
  4. Jul 17, 2009 #3
    justin30

    justin30 Bobtail Member

    45
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    May 4, 2009
    nashville,tn
    0
    Smaller co like who? I want to find a way to learn to drive without having to quit my job to go to school Any ideas?

    who do u drive for now?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 17, 2009
    justin30, Jul 17, 2009
    justin30, Jul 17, 2009
    #3
  5. Jul 18, 2009 #4
    TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    I drive for a big company.

    Back when I started driving, I had to run team starting out because Ive never been to school. I read up on the CDL handbook, paid $40 to take the written part, passed and got my Class A permit. I then went and applied for a job running teams for a small company.
    Ran for a month and then came back and took the driving part of the exam and got my CDLs. Ran team for another couple months and then was given my own rig.

    Ive even helped a couple buddies get their licenses. I would let them ride with me and use my truck for the test, and then they would go out and get local jobs pulling for construction companies or paving companies.

    If it was 2007, I would tell you to look up any friend or relative thats an O/O and talk with him and see if he would you train if you went out and got your CDLs. With the way things are nowadays that wouldnt do you any good, unless that same person had their own authority and would give you a job so you could get some experience under your belt.
     
    TripleSix, Jul 18, 2009
    TripleSix, Jul 18, 2009
    #4
    WhiteHawk Thanks this.
  7. Jul 18, 2009 #5
    WhiteHawk

    WhiteHawk Bobtail Member

    27
    9
    May 21, 2009
    Nashville, TN
    0
    I've thought of buying my own truck, if for no other reason than to show up at a company and say "See? I can still drive!" I can find an old, still-running K100 or Pete 362 for $5000 or less, but I suspect the insurance would be high for someone who hasn't had a CDL in ten years. Och, there's the insurance thing again...

    (Heck, I'd like to fix up an older cabover just to take it to trucking shows, but I need a job, not another hobby.)
     
    WhiteHawk, Jul 18, 2009
    WhiteHawk, Jul 18, 2009
    #5
  8. Jul 18, 2009 #6
    KeithT1967

    KeithT1967 Road Train Member

    1,458
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    Nov 12, 2008
    Springfield, Ohio
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    Why dont you have your CDL if you had one before??

    I didnt use mine for over 10 years and the only effect was losing all my special endorsements. I returned to driving with a small local short haul/expedite company. I did a physical and urinalisys, a driving test that consisted of driving to Detroit, backing into one of the worst docks I've ever seen, and back home again. My "tester" said I could drive and the only issue I had at all was I was rusty on my shifting. Insurance company didnt even hesitate.

    Now about Werner... they're self insured so I imagine they have tighter rules than many insurance companies.
     
    KeithT1967, Jul 18, 2009
    KeithT1967, Jul 18, 2009
    #6
  9. Jul 18, 2009 #7
    REDD

    REDD The Legend

    6,237
    4,291
    Jun 29, 2009
    Dueling Banjoville
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    Just guessing... But he probably thought he wouldn't need it anymore. So he stopped paying the fee to renew it & went back to a regular license.

    Even if I quit... Which I have a couple times. I would pay the renewal & keep my CDL. Not only just in case I may need it again, but for the ease of transferring it to another state if I moved. With A CDL you no longer have to take written or drivers exams to get your license if you move. But with a regular license you would have to take the written test.
     
    REDD, Jul 18, 2009
    REDD, Jul 18, 2009
    #7
  10. Jul 18, 2009 #8
    outerspacehillbilly

    outerspacehillbilly "Instigator of the Legend"

    4,349
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    May 28, 2009
    The Who's Your State
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    Advice for anyone that says their done trucking and will never use their cdl again, KEEP IT. You never know what may happen and it'd #### sure alot easier to pay the few extra fees to renew every 4 yrs than to have to go through all the BS to retest and get them back. A friend of mine thought he was done trucking and decided he wouldn't renew his. I told him to reconsider and just renew them this time and not just say to hell with it. Well he let it go and 3 short years later he was out taking his test all over again. He got a couple of job offers till they found out that he had "let it go" for 3 years and then wouldn't hire him. Told him had he kept it would have been no problem.
     
    outerspacehillbilly, Jul 18, 2009
    outerspacehillbilly, Jul 18, 2009
    #8
  11. Jul 19, 2009 #9
    mapar72

    mapar72 Bobtail Member

    25
    6
    Jul 14, 2009
    Monroe,Mi
    0
    Got my CDL back in 91, run OTR till mid 94, went to work in the auto world and just came out of that mess this past April. Held onto my CDL all that time, well no one would look at it cause of the time fame I was out of driving. Had to go back to school, before anyone would talk to me about a job
     
    mapar72, Jul 19, 2009
    mapar72, Jul 19, 2009
    #9
  12. Jul 19, 2009 #10
    dino6960

    dino6960 YOUDAMAN

    1,347
    4,583
    Jun 25, 2009
    florida
    0
    well guess the goverment and the states think because you didnt drive for a while that you lost your touch and ,your mind,and your knowledge,hmmmm so guess a state offical that got elected ran his or her 2 yr stint in office and the was out for two yrs then reelected must take a refesher course to?????ooopppssss wrong proffession,they make more money screwing us and its just another flaw in the system,but there right and we are wrong,so we have to pay twice for something we already have paid for the first time and have knowledge in and this leaves me baffed and confused:biggrin_2551:
     
    dino6960, Jul 19, 2009
    dino6960, Jul 19, 2009
    #10
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