Can I become a trucker with a federal felony?

Which state is your residence?
The state will pay for cdl school, at no cost to you, through the WIOA Program.
Try the WIOA Program. Once you graduate, you'll have a job in long-haul trucking.

 

Yeah, Western Express probably hire him after graduating from CDL school.

 

Look at the WIOA Program and keep us posted.

 

Typically any company hiring an inexperienced driver will put that driver on Over The Road (OTR) work. It's more lke every newbie is hired for OTR unless the company is advertising something else. The first few weeks or months is typically spent sharing the truck with a company trainer until the newbie is given a solo truck at which time he drives solo in the assigned truck.

 

The reason TSA is mentioned is because if you have a delivery (and a lot of companies do) to a state that is next to the ocean(s) waterways, whatever, I can't remember what year it was but they made it to where you have to have a TSA clearance to deliver or pick up any loads at any seaside ports. To get this clearance you have to get fingerprinted (and pay for it yourself) and they send the prints off to the FBI (I think, or NCIS) to get your clearance. I had to do that for cfi and transam. It wasn't that bad, just a way for them to take in more tax payers money. As far as hazmat, a lot of companies will want you to have that endorsement, even though they don't regularly haul hazmat. Hazmat is not very hard to get, just have to pass the written tests and..... Pay more money. But if you're in the middle of nowhere waiting to load and the only load they have is a hazmat load and you don't have that, then they'll give that load to somebody who does have it, and your SOL. I had a felony conviction, actually two, but it was 13yrs old when I got into trucking. So it didn't show up anywhere. And trucking companies do a very thorough background check, they usually have people that are so good at the checks, like ex highway patrolmen, or detectives that they find out every little thing. Main point is, don't lie about anything on your app. Because if you do lie and they find something out. Well, whatever they found might not be a big deal to them and they would've Hired you anyways, BUT if you lied about it, and they find out, they'll just write you off. Good luck, I'm sure you can get into this field, but it can be a finicky job to get. Once you get your foot in the door and stick with it, you'll be good to go. And the advice about ups is very good advice. I got a friend who started as a truck loader then he started fill in driving then went to full time driver, been there over 25yrs now and he makes over 100k annually, probably more I'm just guessing.

 

Lots and lots of newbies think signing a contract with any trucking company that will hire them for "free" CDL training in exchange for a contract that requires the newbie to work for the same company for 12 months or X number of miles is the easy path into trucking. DON'T take that approach. What determines if trucking is for you or if you stay in trucking is the match between what the trucking company offers and what the newbie needs, like shoes. I can recommend what shoes fit me. I can be absolutely correct about my recommendation, but that doesn't mean those shoes will fit you. If the best fit for you offers a "free" CDL school, then go to it. If they only hire from certain CDL schools, then go there. Good "shoes" that don't fit you are not good shoes. EVERY CDL school will find someone to loan you money for school. Half of the trucking companies hiring newbies offer Tuition Reimbursement to help pay for school. Make sure to ask about TR when talking to trucking companies.

Do enough research about what the companies that will hire felons offer, including talking to current working drivers at that company, to find out what you are walking into in regards to pay, time off, what lanes you drive, etc. If you try to to this online, or online plus a conversation with a "recruiter" you will know very little about the pay, conditions, etc your are signing up for. Any company that wants you to work for them will put you in contact with current working drivers IF YOU ASK FOR IT. Ask those drivers every question you have, but do not ask "do you make enough/good money"? Ask that driver how much did you make last week? What was your schedule last week? Where did you drive last week? Don't give away what answers you are hoping to hear. Ask open-ended questions. Then talk to other drivers at the company and ask open-ended questions and compare the answers. They SHOULDN"T be exactly the same, but they may be similar. Check the answers you hear with people online to see if they make sense or if they are "promising" too much. Nothing the recruiter says is a guarantee. There is no more than a 50/50 chance it is true. The recruiters typically only know the average pay, the average schedule, etc. There are lots of reasons you may not get anywhere near average anything. It's not a guarantee, it's often optimistic.

There are lots of people on the forum that will try to help you. Don't rush into a bad decision. Not all trucking companies are alike. Choose wisely. Some companies are eager to put you into sketchy situations and you cannot afford to risk a brand new CDL. You can easily make it almost impossible to get a job after your first job if you are not careful. Imagine having a felony on your application and an accident or poor performance like damaging trailers/property, tickets, etc. There is no safety in picking among the big trucking companies. You need to know the actuakl working conditions, etc to make a good choice, not just pick among the trucking companies that do the most online advertising and showing up at the top of search results. They pay to be on the top of those results.

 

That's good advice you're getting here. Just wanted to add one thing about recruiters. Have you ever seen that movie 'used cars ' with Kurt Russell? You remember the ten dollar bill on the end of a fishing line trick he did to get the customer across the street into his car lot? Well, recruiters can be a LOT like that. Take what they say with a grain of salt.

 

Every endorsement you get is like being able to haul more freight. One of the links in my first reply advises you to get every endorsement, including the 3 required for CDL (General, Combination, Air Brakes) but Tanker and Doubles/Triples (1 test), and HazMat (if you can afford it, appox $150-200). Getting the HazMat MIGHT show an employer they have one less thing to worry about with you, or not. I'd hold off on the HazMat until you see if you like the job or until you start hearing from employers they want you to get HazMat. It's the least of your problem right now. HazMat requires 2 visits to the driver license office, fingerprints, waiting for TSA to complete the background check. All endorsements other than HazMat don't require renewal. HazMat must be renewed every 5 years, IIRC. The endorsement tests are online (I use TruckerCountry.com). They are just a simple computer test at the DL office and a fee for each one (think $10-20 each). There is no driving test required for any of them, except Passenger or School bus.

 

Here's one company with own cdl school and hires felons:
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Millis Transfer
Millis Transfer is a family-owned company that offers dry van transportation services for various industries and customers.
Millis Training Institute - Announcing Our Free Apprenticeship Program (mtidriving.com)
Millis Training Institute has 6 convenient school locations:

• Hamilton, Ohio
• Cartersville, Georgia
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• Burleson, Texas
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• Carlisle, Pennsylvania