Good starter in Oregon?

Yes, as Chinatown says, look at asphalt and paving and brick companies.
You might try using Goggle for "beverage distributer", "food service", "waste removal", "asphalt & paving", "brick & rock contractor", etc and then go to the company website and look for their career tab and find employment directly. You may already be doing that or something more effective. You can get hired, no doubt. The more types of CDL work you are willing to do, and the fewer locations, schedule, etc limitations you demand the easier it will be. If you consider OTR, that could mean home at least once a week to home every 2-6 weeks as the longest likely between home-time. In your case I don't think it will be a matter of finding the ONLY job you can get, but which of the jobs you can get do you want. You'll just have a little fewer than any other newbie in your area. The industry is hiring newbies by the truckload. I think most newbies severely underestimate how many companies will hire them when they come to this forum. I'm guessing the felons that come here assume maybe one or maybe two companies will hire them. It's not that limited by any means unless you have very specific other demands about location, type of work, home-time frequency & duration, make of truck, truck features, etc. I'm sure it will be easier than you might be thinking.

 

Many of the links on Craigslist to "Apply Now" take you to the intelliapp system. You'll know you are using the system when after each section it tells you what percentage of the process you have remaining, personal info, residential info/history, work experience, education, etc. At the end I think it asks you to type your initials, or maybe it asks you to sign your name with your mouse. The second time you use it, you will definitely know you are using it.

 

That's what I remember. Not every way to apply to a company is an Intelliapp application. Intelliapp may store your details based on name and SSN. Drivers don't generally go to Intelliapp and apply, it's more like a technical backbone provided to companies so the companies don't have to invent the online application system. Intelliapp is more like a convenience for people applying for jobs, not some advantage if you use their system and an applicant.

 

I went to May Trucking web page and then the Apply Now link there. Doing that brought me to the Intelliapp process. That preliminary page with the bullet point layout is Intelliapp. The first time I used it I was creeped out it might be something to avoid. The second time I applied to a company and only had to update the ending date of my last job to create a whole application, I was sold.

Please consider freezing your credit. I say that only because if your credit is frozen, not using Life Lock but frozen, even if you accidentally fill out a bogus job app and a scammer has your personal info, they can't use it for very much. Freezing your credit at Equifax, Experian, and Transunion is free and you can complete the process in maybe 30 minutes total for all of them. They will/may give you a long PIN number (never ever lose that PIN) and once you have NOBODY, not even you can open a new credit card, etc in your name. I'll leave a link to a consumer affairs radio host or you can Google Clark Howard How to Freeze My Credit. As part of applying for driving jobs you will sign paperwork authorizing the company to do a background check, including checking your credit. The credit freeze should not interfere with that background check. In trucking, especially OTR your may be using your credit card in many, many places. If one of those people or places happens to have someone doing identity theft a credit freeze will protect you. I'll emphasize the thing I recommend is called Credit Freeze, other companies offer other services, some of which require you pay monthly, or their service still allows people to sell your info and make money. Credit Freeze is the thing that protects you the most. Life Lock is not something that I would recommend. A credit Freeze is like putting a deadbolt lock on a door. Life Lock process is like putting a "Authorized Personnel Only" sign beside you unlocked door. Neither will protect you 100%, but credit freeze is the best protection I know of and FREE. Life Lock charges maybe $300 per year to hang a note on your credit reports than nobody reads. A credit Freeze does mean before you can get a new credit card, like at Target, or Best Buy, you have to Thaw your credit file. You can thaw your credit file in 30 seconds and doing so is also free.