Did I ruin my trucking career before it even started?

You're the one that brought up the family side...it's all part of what you're trying to do......and to get local you're probably gonna need a solid 2 years at a company if you actually wanna make money while home ...

 

BS, find another lawyer to get the ticket reduced to something that carries the fine but not the violation.

 

Get a cat.

 

Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. You just got started and trucking isn’t easy, especially with a company like Western Express. Sounds like your trainer wasn’t helping much, and that made things tougher.

The careless driving ticket isn’t great, but it’s not game over. Lots of new drivers mess up early on. What matters is how you learn from it and move forward. If you can stick it out for six months to a year, you’ll have more experience to show future employers.

When you apply for new jobs, be upfront about the citation and explain what you’ve learned. Some companies might hesitate, but others will appreciate your honesty and effort to improve.

If trucking is what you want, don’t give up now. You have your endorsements and you’re already in the game. Keep working at it, and better opportunities will come. Starting a family and making good money takes time, but it’s possible.

Keep your head up. You’re not alone, and you can make this work.

 

Sorry for the reprint of FedEx’ post, I just joined and that reposting the original was a keystroke error .
I was just hired by a small carrier with a great reputation after 2 months and roughly 90 resumes sent after being terminated for a very questionable safety violation for using my (malfunctioning ) company issued tablet while driving, seen in driver facing camera. I am a recent grad of a CDL School, this was an upgrade to A after 8-9 years CDL B schoolbus and interstate HAZMAT and occurred at month 4 of my first OTR CDL A job. No accident, no damage, they refused to consider the circumstance of that tablet listing me as OFF DUTY while driving 45 mph for about 10 minutes which is illegal and a driving violation. THE POINT:
My new employer actually read the COVER LETTER I attached to almost all of those 90+ Resumes which recounted the while tale above. Recruiter and almost all company carrier HR folks don’t read ANYTHING YOU SEND, they just see a name and a phone number.
So IF Western fires you ( they prob won’t for that light pole, you’ll prob be on probation ) you’d be well advised to get out in front of their negative rating in your (last) job record by doing what I did. Cover letters can be merged with your resume and sent as PDF attachment in almost every truck job app.

 

To the OP(@FedExcorcist ), I wouldn’t recommend this at all, cause soon you will be taking orders and be asking permission from a cat. This happens after being to long OTR, you start losing your train of thought. Follow his post and you’ll see what I mean.

 

Hey a lawyer might get it reduced to some less

 

Assuming you stopped whatever would cause you to fail a hair follicle, at some point other companies may be willing to hire you (ones that require a hair follicle)