I am wondering if my inabilty to get work is due to my poor communication skills

How about: "I'm hungry....what the hell you got for me be-otch"?

No; you can just go in and explain you've been involved with the trucking industry for however many years, in whatever capacity, and you'd like to drive the big rigs. Got a CDL...just want someone to give me a chance to show them I can move freight and generate Revenue for the company, and hopefully a decent check for myself as well.
Short, sweet, and to the point. And they will concentrate on the "generate Revenue for the company" part.

 

You've had some good advice on here. Let's look at this a bit closer though:

Scrap this entirely. Wouldn't it be better to say, (in your own words, of course,) "I will soon be making a career change to driving. I graduated driving school in (whatever month of whatever year,) and I have a CDL A with Hazmat and Tanker endorsement.
(question here, do you also have endorsement for doubles/triples?)

Unless you are really looking to have your own business, forget about using your F-250 on the job. It is likely not enough truck to interest anyone anyway. (Not knocking your Ford, I've got a Power Stroke myself, but if you are trying to do hot shot, your truck just isn't adequate, IMHO.)

So does most every driver looking for work. You do need to state that you have these, but this should already be covered above.

Scrap this completely. Don't insult the intelligence of the person reading your resume by telling them something that is obvious.

This is good, but could be elaborated on, JUST A LITTLE.

You did NOT work on "an Y2K team," you worked on "a Y2K team." Proper use of spelling and grammar may not be essential to our forum, but it sure is to your resume!

Again, get rid of this!

I have a lot of business experience with taxes, OSHA, TCEQ including fine negotiations, and support of a safety manager, including doing some of the safety training.
(A very minor change, but it makes it read better.)

This comes across as sort of arrogant, also, watch your spelling. How about, "I chose a discount driving school due to time constraints, (or financial constraints.)

OK, this sound negative, you don't want that. They will realize that you need to learn everything. Again, don't insult their intelligence.

This sounds a bit demanding, and is also limiting you. I'd skip it altogether. You are trying to get your foot in the door, and if you really want it bad enough, you'll go wherever they need you to go.

Already been covered so I won't go over it again. (OBTW, there far, should you decide to use it anyway, should be therefore.)

I agree with the poster who said that having a resume was not absolutely essential in our line of work, but only if you are applying face to face with someone. And even then, a few will want to see a resume. But your best bet is to forget the phone, the email the snail mail, and get out there and start beating down doors.

At this point, you are a salesman, and what you are selling, is yourself. If you do use a resume though, take the time to make sure it says what you want it to say, and that your usage of grammar and spelling is correct.
Right?
Write?
Rite?

Good luck on your job search.

 

Just a suggestion, Schneider has a large yard here in Houston with a pretty big tanker division. They might be a good option for you to investigate. I've gotten a few post cards from them saying they were looking for drivers and I'm pretty sure they train or can do a refresher for you.

 

Delete this entire section. Big Don covered most of the points pretty well, I would just reiterate the importance of not putting negative language in a resume. You also don't want to sound defensive. Discount driving school sounds like you don't have confidence in the training that you did receive and are trying to justify it. Don't do that. If it gets to the point where you are talking to them and they specifically ask why you went to that school then you can give a reason.

 

Good point sik_life.

 

Another point, IF you decide to do resumes, needed or not. Put them in a folder so that they stay neat, you don't need to buy a briefcase. Nothing like looking at a creased and dirt smeared piece of paper.

I'm probably going to say something that you already know, but.... wear neat clean clothing, preferably not a t-shirt and jeans. Yes I know that it's part of the wardrobe of trucking, but it looks sloppy. For $30-35 you can get a pair of Dickies slacks ( black or tan ) and a polo ( or button up) at Wal-mart. Clean boots or Dress shoes ( even beat-up work boots are better than sneakers or flip-flops)

I have interviewed and hired enough people to know that 1st impressions are very important. They will tip the scales if someone else has come in with nearly the same qualifications. I have gotten a store managers position over someone slightly more qualified because I presented myself and my skills better than he did.

 

Nonsense, You have used up neither. You having the motivation to look up this group and post tells me that. I have much the same issues as yourself. A key to you writing a good intro or resume could be finding someone to proofread. Heck post or send me a message and Ill be glad to. If it weren't for word's spellchecker, I'd never get a job. lol. Hang in there and let me know if I can help.

Doug

 

The problem with depending on any spell check is simple. Take the example I posted of; Right? Write? Rite? Spell check will OK any of these, as they are all good spelling, depending on the context in which they are used. Yes, spell check helps. It helps a lot. But you see so many times when so called "professional articles" are not proof read, they are just sent through spell check, and it misses usages completely. You even see it in books any more. It makes the authors look a whole lot less than professional. . .

And while Gramatic can help some, (if you are using Word Perfect,) you still have the problem of the program not knowing how something is used. It takes having someone actually do the proof reading, someone that has a basic understanding of how articles and documents should be constructed in common usage.

I've known a whole lot of folks who were much smarter than I am. But when they go to write something, you would think they had no education at all. It isn't a matter of intelligence, as much as a matter of remembering what you have learned back in school.

I'm not trying to put anyone down here. I happen to be fairly good at putting sentences together, but that doesn't mean I have a lick of sense. (I don't. . .)