I am looking into trucking but have felonies

OK Mr. giggles, or is it init2win, I see you replied to most of my questions, but you didn't answer about giving your name and number to him. Your so big on giving convicted felons a second chance, help him out. Just don't talk about, be about it, or are you just flexing your internet muscles. Send him your info, or better yet, invite him into your house, have him meet your family, and help him change his life. Yeah, I thought not. Apparently you work with nothing but mobsters, criminals and felons, but I've been driving for over 20 years and most of the truckers I've met are hard working, decent, family men. And you apparently don't know nothing about the trucking industry. There's more to trucking than doing OTR and drop and hooks. There's a lot of jobs out there, especially LTL work, where being physical is part of the job. Look at the food service rant link, and then tell me that isn't difficult. So keep on talking the big talk, and flex those internet muscles. You'll get them 24" pythons eventually, brother.

 

With all due respect to the OP and any other felon out there. I certainly believe in second chances.

However, If I am a prospective employer and I have an opening with 10 applicants, 9 of which aren't felons and you. With everything being equal why would I hire you? I would think that you would have to so far surpass your competition for the job that it would be worth it to give you that chance.

Employers (at least the best ones) are about risk mitigation. Felonies, DUI's, etc add to their risk, so the potential reward has to be higher to justify the risk. The problem is the companies most ready to give you a chance are the worst to work for. I wish you luck, but you are facing a big uphill climb.

 

I have a friend who has helped many felons get into trucking and other vocations. He works as a community college career counselor. My friend's advice is to:

1) Google jobs for felons. Lots of leads there.

2) Go to a good school, one with several hundred hours instruction. A good school is not necessarily the most expensive. Does your area have community colleges that offer CDL training?

3) Get every endorsement, including passenger. Getting all endorsements means you are motivated and can be trained. (his words)

4) If you have time, learn a related trade to truck driving such as basic diesel mechanics.

5) Immediately after getting your CDL, you may have to drive a low value truck like a cement mixer.

Good luck to you. Drop me a PM to let me know how you're doing.

Never give up. Never.

 

Ya know, so many situation specifics to consider....I want to jump in on the conv as I have experience on both sides of the fence, but, Its all gonna be moot and irrevelant, and pointless to discuss unless we pick a specific guy who did a specific thing...the driving factors so important

Theres felons out there that should be exterminated, and felons that should be fully forgiven...Of coarse everything in between
If you had 10 guys, all who did 5 years for theft, and have been clean for 5 years...the chances of any of them being the same are low low...what they thefted, why they thefted etc etc...These things matter !!!
A dood who broke into your house to steal something to sell at the pawnshop for cash to buy heroin is so much worse than a guy ripping off stores cause he cant generate enough legitamately to take care of his family...IMO !!
To throw blanket crap out there aiming at felons in general is foul...
I bet theres way more felons around you than you think!! Maybe the guy you been workin next to for 10 years..He might of kicked his wifes butt back in 89 and had a battery charge or something..
Ya never know
So be nice to the felons!!! And felons, quit breakin into peoples houses!!!

 

The never ending debate...what to do with felons. So a guy says that he did bad things when he was younger, and now has learned the errors of his ways. Do you help him?

Had a guy come to my on a construction job, tell me that he was a convicted felon (car thief...one of those people I would shoot on sight. Doesn't even have to be my car, but I view car thieves like they viewed horse thieves 150 years ago...it was a hanging offense.) He shows up at 3pm wanting to do a little work so he could pay his room and board for the day. I told him to come and see me tomorrow morning. But he needs a room for the night, right? Not my problem. I'm not handing out cash a couple hours before I go home. Want money, better get your arse up the same time I do and go find work.

We were all young and stupid, but I never stole anything from anyone. Had a girl tell me about some kid that got gunned down for taking something out of a liquor store and the owner called the cops. She said that he was in his early teens and he was hungry. "Sorry Miss, I dont bleed. I was a kid and I was hungry. I would have went into the store and asked the owner if there was something I could do to earn a few bucks, like sweep the parkinglot or take out the garbage or something. Most of the time, store owners WILL help you. There's no excuse for stealing. None. The kid got what he deserved." She didnt want to hear that, but she didn't argue.

"Deserves' got nothing to do with anything. You have one chance at life. No one deserves a second chance. If you get a second chance, count yourself lucky. You want to truck? Well, you already know you're the odds are against you.

I would take what I could get. If I could get my foot in the door with a company that had trucks, I would take the lowest job and work my way up. Eventually, the owner would see that I DID learn from my past and did a 180 from my former course of life. And eventually, I would get to where I wanted to be.

Says a person who has never owned anything.

 

Need to take TMC off that list because they DO NOT !!!

 

FMCSA carries a list of DQ'ing offenses.

You did not disclose the nature of your felony. But assuming theft, grand and related white collar offenses sufficent to destroy your former employer and put you into prison a while. You can pretty much know that kind of behavior will probably be equal to a lifetime a i

What if I have Felony on my record?

However, there are exceptions to this. There are certain offenses that do immediately disqualify you from earning a commercial driver’s license, while others may just temporarily keep you from starting a trucking career.

The following felonies may disqualify you from earning a CDL at the federal level:

Using a commercial vehicle in the commission of a felony
Manslaughter in the first or second degree with a motor vehicle
Misconduct with a motor vehicle
Causing a fatality through negligent/reckless vehicle operation
Operating a vehicle with a BAC of .08% or higher
Extortion
Bribery
Smuggling
Arson
Treason
Kidnapping
Assault with intent to murder

Each state has its own additional laws. Before applying for your commercial driver’s license, find out which felonies and convictions disqualify drivers in your state to ensure that you won’t be turned away.

To comply with the necessary legaleses slowly sinking our web services I have to cite this as a source of this previously cut and shared info

Become a Truck Driver with a Felony | Learn More Here

 

Good thread here for others, but the OP hasn't been back on here since starting the thread way back in July of 2015..

 

have to find a owner op hoew runs his on freight

 

Look at companies that don't run Canada. Howard transportation hires felons. I trained a guy there that was on probation and made sure he never missed a meeting with probation officer