Older Person, New CDL

The following answer assumes:

• You already have a clean driving record;
• You have a clean criminal history;
• You can easily pass a random drug screen;
• You are healthy enough to pass a DOT physical....

With all that said -- I think most carriers will actually appreciate you more than a much younger person, becuz.....(wait for it).....

you are very likely to be a much more mature, thoughtful driver....who is less likely to take chances.

You can get a CDL job....& keep driving....as long as you can pass a DOT physical....& you are healthy enough to get in & out of the cab.

Your BIGGEST PROBLEM right now by far....& for the foreseeable future....is the incredibly bad CDL job market.

-- L

 

Of the carriers you have mentioned elsewhere...if you do in fact have a choice....I would be much more inclined to sign up with either:

• Swift...or
• Knight.

Those carriers are basically like Jack & Jill. You should be able to use the terminals/dropyards of both/either....for parking.

You will find...as a new driver...that one of your biggest challenges, by far....is finding safe, legal parking at the end of each shift. This will be particularly true in/near most urban areas.

Being part of a larger fleet...with lots of legit parking options....is a HUGE ADVANTAGE....that you will soon learn to appreciate...quite much.

-- L

 

I got in 2 yrs ago. Same exact age. Foodgrade. The only thing that can stop you is the market, not you age. Previous post is good advise. Get in somewhere and hope things get better after november.

 

Bad idea. When you at a company terminal, they keep your paperwork, and WILL re-assign it to a driver with a full slate of hours in a heartbeat. When I worked for JB, we always complained about the Springfield Ohio terminal; if you came from the E. Brunswick NJ terminal with westbound freight, they arranged the fuel stops such that you HAD to stop there for fuel (due to our little 50 gal side tanks), and once you got there, you had your load taken, and you sat there all weekend, just to do a short regional load on Monday. 100 drivers cooped up each weekend in that little dinky city terminal!

I figured out the way around this; I bought four 6-gal diesel fuel containers, and put them in my side boxes. Each fuel stop, I'd fill one of them. When I left NJ, once I was into OH on I70, I'd pull over and put those 24 gallons into my tanks, then sail right past the termina, finally fueling at our next stop in the St.Louis area.

 

An interesting perspective, there....

Conversely -- my stops/layovers at Schneider terminals were always a good experience: hot (& free) showers; laundry facilities; hot, cooked, nutritious meals at an in-house cafeteria; an on-site repair facility that usually addressed truck/trailer problems while I was there; plenty of paved, safe, behind-a-gated-fence parking...& without paperwork/dispatch manipulation games while I was there.

The (apparent) takeaway: some carriers simply abuse/manipulate/take advantage of their drivers.....moreso than others.

If the above-described abuse/mistreatment (or anything else of a similar nature) is/has been a problem over at Swift -- it seems reasonable that @Moosetek13 could describe/confirm such....



-- L

 

Why didn't you ask this question before getting your CDL? Would you buy a car and then later ask your neighbor if buying that car was a good deal?

NOBODY cares about your age. If you can keep a valid 1 or 2 year DOT medical card you can work. Not every company hires newbies. Not every company that hires newbies treat them very nicely. It's your responsibility to CAREFULLY pick an employer, which almost all newbies do not do at all. Most newbies do zero research and then complain the company didn't read their mind, and then quit.

You need to speak with current drivers at ANY COMPANY to find out the pay & working conditions. YOU CANNOT TRUST THE WORDS OF A RECRUITER. Newbies accept the words of a recruiter as a contract written in stone. They aren't even a verbal, non-enforceable contract.

Make the company put you in contact with their drivers & drive to the company terminal & speak to drivers about pay, schedule, working conditions, equipment quality, idle time limits, anything you want to know.

CDL schools will always say "now is the time to get your CDL" even if it is NOT the time. Care salesmen sell cars, not turn away customers.

 

JB might do that, but I have never experienced that at Swift.

 

There's drivers 15 or 20 years older than you and still running the roads as truckers.
~

• 95% No-Touch Freight

Our Trucks – May Trucking Company

 

I’d see about getting tanker endorsed.

Go to food grade tanker outfit, a lot easier, just hook a hose and pump product off.