So Frustrated! Any advice appreciated.

I am a former trucker who is trying to get back to driving for a living. I have 5 years tractor/trailer experience (hauling haz-mat for a chemical company), a Class A with tanker endorsement, and clean driving history. In 2003 I left trucking to become a Police Officer and that's what I've done for the past 9 years. Even though I have the true-life experience and the license, no company will give me a chance because I've been out of trucking for 9 years. {It gets worse}I am able to get funding from the Alliance for Business and Training to pay for a refresher course at a truck driving school. All I have to do is get 2 pre-hire offers and the funding will be provided. Good news! Right? Not so, because most companies tell me I will have to complete a FULL truck driving school before they will even consider me. So then I look at the bottom-feeder companies who might consider me (you can guess who they are). I can't even get a pre-hire offer from them. Why? Because I was fired from my last job. Why? Simple; so simple a child could understand. Retaliatory termination. I filed a harassment complaint against the city manager. 2 days later she fired me. The state of Tennessee sided with me and concluded that there was absolutely no grounds for my termination. I have it in writing! So I'm good, Right? Nope. Once I disclose that I was terminated, the doors close on any offers. They don't care why I was fired; only that I was. I was told by a Maverick recruiter (she sounded like a 17 year-old on the phone) that any termination was a bad reference, no matter what, and they would not consider me. NOTE: Recruiters who have never been drivers are completely worthless.
So, that's my little soap opera that I'm living and trying to deal with.
I have a class A, experience, can pass a background, drug, driving history check. Experience as a supervisor, 2 commendations of valor for bravery and life saving, and the knowledge and experience to be an asset to any company that would give me a chance....I just can't find one that's willing.
P.S. If you're wondering why I filed the harassment complaint, please understand-if you knew the situation you would see that it was the last card I had to play in that situation, but that story is too long for this post.

 

Gentlemen, thank you all for you advice. I truly do appreciate it. And KMac, I think many prefer felons over cops anyway!

 

I truly thank you. If there is one profession where you can be thrown under the bus, it LE. I was already looking for a way out before all this happened. There's a stigma to being an ex-cop. People automatically believe you must have ''done something''. One thing I truly enjoyed as a cop was helping truckers; because I had been one. I would find truckers often driving slow with their blinkers on and I new they were lost and trying to find the Industrial park. I would pull alongside and they would wonder if they were in trouble only to find an officer who would personally guide them to their destination and even tell them where they could park and sleep and that I would keep an eye on their truck as I patrolled through the night. I do miss that part of the job.