How much of an edge does a squeaky clean record give a new driver?

I read a lot of questions on these boards from prospective drivers who wonder whether and to what extent their past troubles with the law will hold them back in their trucking careers, but I find myself wondering how much more competitive someone with a perfect record can expect to be. I've never had any trouble with the law in any form--not even a minor traffic ticket. In your experience, how impressed do companies tend to be by this? To them, is there a big difference between someone like me and someone with, say, one or two minor traffic violations on his record?

 

It puts you ahead of the guys who effed up and waybehind the ones with expierence

 

From what I'm seeing, it's basically a wash. You're coming in with no experience, and a clean record. They negate each other, especially since there's been little to no chance to tarnish the record yet!

 

I should have clarified: I meant general driving violations, not truck driving violations.

 

Clean MVR = Advantage. My apologies, I didn't read closely and I assumed you were referring to CSA score.

 

A lot depends on your age. Yes, if you're 22 and have a clean driving and criminal courts record that says something but if you're 45 with a clean MVR (and not having driven 120k miles a year for a living in the recent past) that's more to be expected.

 

well in otr you can expect prehires from everyone
my blemished record got me one prehire but it is a good fit for me

 

It's all common sense. You've got a stack of applications so how would you rate them to get the best driver? I don't think companies are going to hire a bad driver. Of course not so they hire the best of what they have. If you have a record that's not perfect then find a company that's needs a driver and no one has applied for. You'll then be the best driver they have.

 

How far back do companies look at your (car/motorcycle/non-truck) driving record?

 

As far back as the state lets them. If I remember correctly, Hire right(DAC) offered 3,5 and 7 year histories. I'd always pull the longest one I could for a prospective driver as well as a multiple license report listing any other licenses he/she might have held in other states.