Speeding tickets

No, more like "Habib's trucking", or something much less pleasant, like hauling rocks or trash....

As for which is better, an independent school or a company school; well, I guess it depends on the company. I took my training at a top-notch independent school; we learned on an entire fleet of different trucks; daycabs, conventional, cabovers and even one heavy-hauler. My training eposed me to 7-sp Spicers, 9-sp Eaton-Fullers, 6x4 Spicer twin-sticks, and even a couple of Maxidynes. We learned how to parallel-park on the right AND the left side. We learned to back into difficult dock. We spent 6 weeks learning the basics.

MOST companies only train you on their equipment, which today mostly means automatics. Some companies like C.R. England send multiple drivers out with 1 trainer in 1 vehicle. How good could THAT be? Back when I started, even companies like them wouldn't touch you unless you had at least a community-college training behind you.

When I started, I'd already been through 6 weeks of training, and had passed the New York state chauffer's license test. My trainer put me behind the wheel when we left the terminal, saw that I knew how to drive, then went into the sleeper and told me to wake him up before we got to Cleveland. He stayed up just long enough to see me handle Cleveland traffic, then went back to sleep until Gary, IN.

 

Here's a good example of 3-year disqualifiers (no matter if in personal or commercial vehicle):
15+ Speeding
Reckless Driving
Improper Lane Change
Following too closely
Hit and Run
Leaving the scene of an accident
Failure to report and accident
Texting while driving
Using a hand-held device

5 years:
DUI/DWI for drugs or alcohol

They won't "disappear," they just won't really count. Now if you have a pattern of serious offenses outside 3 years and a pattern of not quite as serious offenses within 3 years, this shows a pattern of disregard for safe operation and will also be met with a resounding "NO."

There was no driver shortage, and now there are more drivers than positions available so companies can afford to be picky. If you have a crap attitude and are causing problems with customers, don't be surprised to be met with a bus ticket the next time you route through a terminal, either. Its prime time to reshape the employee pool with desirables.

 

What caused you to spend money on a CDL school before you investigated if you could get hired by a trucking company. EVERY school will always say "now is the perfect time to go to school". They are in the school business. Are they going to tell you "oh, no don't give us money, we don't like that stuff"? If you ask a barber if you need a haircut is he going to say "no, don't give me money?" Buyer beware.

If you just got out of prison for murder, had 3 fatal accidents in the last year, and owe back taxes and child support, some company will hire you, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are places you will want to work, especially if you have the same affliction most under-30s have these days and cannot go more than 2 minutes without watching your smartphone or tolerate the slightest difficulty or problem solve on your own.

The companies that hire people with a desperate/difficult background KNOW they don't have to give you a safe truck, regular freights, pay you on time because you have very few alternatives. Apply everywhere, but never start working at a company until you speak to current working drivers doing the work you might be hired to do. You cannot just rely on the internet and text messages. Make decisions like they are important.

 

State laws for car drivers may not classify speeding as reckless driving until some higher number above the speed limit. The insurance companies for trucking company set a 15 MPH over = reckless driving for trucking. Insurance companies run the world. They also maintain their own databases for claims, etc. So once one insurance company knows something about you, it may be visible for other insurance companies.

 

Mine will be 3 years ago at the point I’m applying. Fingers crossed I’ll be fine. Thank you for the good information. I’ll be sure to keep myself in line. Thanks again.

 

If people go through life expecting everyone but them self to be super-responsible and to make wise decisions your life will be very hard. Hold yourself to a higher standard and you won't have to make excuses for the rest of your life or waste time telling decision-makers "well, I disagree with that policy." When you apply for a job you are not a voing member of the policy-making committee, you are just an applicant. Applicants are not managers, just applicants.

Can you imagine in another 5-10 years when 30 year olds who have not lived away from home, paid their own bills, provided their own insurance and food try to run the society? What if watching TkTok and free-loading on someone's wi-fi doesn't prepare you to run the world? Eventually your mom won't want to wash your clothes or argue with your manager about giving you a promotion. Then what will

Companies have different policies. Having someone here that had a single speeding ticket in 1998 tell you what happened to him probably isn't going to apply at "most trucking" companies. You want one job, not most jobs. I am reading comments based on situations many years ago and fear you are reading them like they are guarantees from multiply trucking companies. The posters that run trucking companies, or hire drivers TODAY are ones you should concentrate on. What do you care about a driver with ONE bad ticket that worked for a company that is no longer in business or when companies were hiring anyone with a pulse to drive, unlike now. Lots of newbies read the bogus stories about "driver shortage" and think it's like fast-food companies hiring crack-heads to microwave frozen burgers.

 

Assume the date where your tickets become less important is the conviction date.

 

Very good way to look at it. I’ll apply with everyone and hope for the best. I’ll keep everyone updated. Thank you.

 

Apply with everyone, then research the heck out of any company (NOT JUST INTERNET SEARCH, BUT TALKING TO CURRENT DRIVERS) before making a decision. When you pick where yo work you are picking your schedule, your pay, your working conditions, your equipment quality, your amount of hassle with law enforcement and customers, etc. Rolling the dice is not how you make smart decisions.

 

The CDL phase for most community colleges is almost exactly the same as any other CDL school. The fact that after they get their CDL the tend to ride around the town for weeks doesn't obfuscate the industry from their total blame in the state of the driver corp in general the abysmal turnover rates