Career Change

There are 2 types of MVR records you can obtain. The only "true" MVR record, that is used by any company, is a full "court purpose" MVR record.
It's quite possible you obtained the "simple" MVR record, which is useless, re. employers.

In any event, with the DUI's, it will be nearly impossible to get on with any company, especially a decent one.
BTW, $10,000 on trucking school?? Are you kidding? Most 6 week training courses run less than half of that,, tops!

 

Agreed. While I'm not the type to pooh-pooh someone's ambitions I think Fuzzy has the right idea... your earning potential is much better as an electrician and you get to go home at night!

 

I just want to put this out there. If you are a certified, licensed electrician, you'll make less money as a truck driver based on hours worked. You will want to consider it closely. My best year as a company driver was 4 years ago at $84,000. That was with FedEx National LTL as a team driver, and they phased that out. I have an electrician friend that beats that every year, but he does some freelance service calls. You can expect to average between 40k and 65k per year in trucking, with the lowest average for the first couple of years.
Having said that, if you do want to drive a truck, I consider it a good career, or I wouldn't have done it for so long. I just wanted to let you know what to expect. Good luck.

 

I'm just wondering how you were able to file an article 894 on the second DUI?
Article 894 is for first time offenders only, as far as I know.
Then again, it's possible since the last DUI is only 6 months ago, the art 894 might have been filed, but not yet deemed acceptable by the judge?

 

I'm usually pretty positive on here, but the DUI's will be a problem. I'd hate to see you invest in CDL training to find nobody willing to hire you.

Search these forums pretty thoroughly and you'll find what you need. Lots of experienced drivers on here with wide range of opinions.

 

Did you pull a 10 year report (needed for commercial drivers) or the 3 year cage one? Also courts can be slow at getting things done so it may show up a bit later and bite you in the rear. I'd ride out your gig as a sparky and look for a reasonable cost school after you are sure it won't show up on your MVR or Criminal reports. Being less than honest is a guarantee to bite you later in this industry, and then it'll go on a DAC and your screwed for a few more years.

 

There are several reasons why people continue to work even if "they hate their job." But that's not the issue here. Assuming you could get hired with your DUI history, you would likely be looking at around $400.00 to $600.00 per week for a long time and being away from your family for probably two to five weeks at a time. This is especially true because your options will be limited because of your record. Most people have a fantasy or illusion of the trucking industry for whatever reason. That's why over 75% of new entrants are out of the industry in the first year. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I'm only trying to spare you the financial cost that you will be throwing away. The little money you make in the first year or two will be spent on living costs (away from home) and fines. As a new driver you are bound to get at least one and when you do it can cost you easily over $1000.00.

 

I didn't think DUI was illegal in Louisiana.