To the New Drivers / People looking for a career in trucking.

I have almost 2 years in this industry and while some " super long time trucks have most likely not changed their underware in 2 years" my advice is given on really learning the newbie ins and outs.


Anyone who has read previous posts knows leading up to my first trucking job and looking around for others I've been really bitter about my record and being turned down from various companies.

Some companies will always turn you down for a felony while others will look at how long ago and what type of crime. Other companies will look at everything and decide to hire you because they are short on drivers...


Its important to understand two things. 1) You slowly lowered yourself to the point where you recieved the felony, 2 ) Even though you paid the price for having that felony , there is no instant getting back into societys good graces. TIME is key .


Theres two types of felonies, State and Federal. Depending on severity of the crime you could be denied your TWIC card for arson, drug transport, sex crimes, murder etc... On the state level its the same however most trucking companies from what I've noticed pay more attention to the state level as a FED / State Background check are two different things.

If you have Murder, sex crimes, violence felonies than you should consider maybe taking up a different career.


Most companies will go back 7-10 years and tell you to list anything durring that time. Be sure to list evertything EVER, don't ever lie on an aplication because they will find out. List it all.

If you don't fit into the catagory of violence , arson, or transporting drugs but have several felonies be prepared to work for a really crapy company. In this industry with most companies worth working for you need 1-2 years... The really decent ones require 5 but that depends too on the type of loads you are taking.

Be prepared to pay your dues... What are dues? Well dues are working for a TEAM company like Covenant , crst etc being 6'2 and having to take the top bunk while the guy in the truck before you at 5'2 takes the bottom bunk. Dues are being given crap loads, staying out a little longer than you want to at times, going with a trainer thats more interested in seeing you drive your 10-11 hours instead of training you. Dues are being stuck with a crap company with little choice to get hired elseware because you have a felony / new driver . For you people who have felonies I suggest 3 things.


Stay with your first company for a year, OR at least 3-6 months so you can get on with a training company easier.

Understand that not leaving bad habbits like drug use, drinking beer in your truck on your 34 hour break or checking out the hookers etc will just cause you to fail.

Try harder, do Better than the average newbie because not only are you new, you must prove yourself to get back into societys good grace.



What to expect after your first year. Well I got hired on with another company that required a years experience and its much better. Not perfect, not the dream place to work , just better than the last. The choices you make both professionaly and your personal life will dictate where you go in this industry. Its not like any other out there. You live, breathe trucking for weeks / months at a time. Personal habbits, choices and how you live your life reflect both with the customer and your employer. Its not like I can go to work in the morning, put up a FRONT than go home and be my self.

Your driving, how you interact with other drivers and cars on the road all gets back to your employer, don't think it won't.


Lastly there will always be SOME companies out there that will NEVER hire you. I'm 36 my 3 felonies 2 for recieving stolen property ( state ) and 1 for perjury ( Fed) happened when I was 18... almost 19 years ago and they still can bar me from working at various companies... Next year I will have the state felonies expunged, I suggest after your first year you pay off any fines and do the same, it will make a huge difference however the biggest difference is not having a life style that promotes that sorta thing.







Oh pps!!!

Don't ever make the misstake of telling yourself " well no one will hire me I may as well go back to crime " Don't ever let negitive thinking pull you down. Something I learned from an older guy who went thru some tough times was ########, being negitive or par taking in typical trucker TV room ######## about various things will only serve to hinder your goals.. Negitivity only breeds negitive results. be prepared to fall down, fail but be an American , pull your self up, learn from your misstake and do better.



Feel free to keep msging me questions Ill help where I can.


Oh nice look on the forums BTW, I don't come here as much as I should....

 

Statue of Limitations applies to how long the courts have to charge you with a crime Or other stuff like how long someone has to sue you for X reasons... Crimes all have a statue of limitations depending on the seriousness of it..

With that said , " Statue of limitations has no real meaning " in the trucking industry.


Untill you have your felonies expunged thru the courts , it will always remain on your record. Also most trucking companies will say something like " We only go back X amount of years on your record check" This is just letting you know they don't want to see anything withn those X amount of years.. Typicalys 7-10 . THIS DOES NOT MEAN you NOT list stuff going back 11+ years... You need to list EVERYTHING even if its outside the time they check. REASON being is they want to know EVERYTHING you have on your record BUT they want to see that you have changed and don't have anything in the last X amount of years.



Also like the other poster said about self insured companies versus companies that use outside insurance. Most of the time if a company won't hire for a non sex-non violent felony its due to their insurance rates...

Those insurance companies will say NO to people who have x ON RECORD with X amount of years driving... Don't take it personal with those companies, Just move on and keep looking for work. Except with ' Werner" I do take it personal because the lady was a ##### about it.. but thats another story.


I wanted to comprise a list of companies for NEW drivers to get a start at... As long as you keep in mind that YOUR start will suck most likely and suck worse than for the average guy given your record... This is paying your dues... it gets better. I'm typing this sitting at a table for 2 in the back of my volvo using the free wifi my company priovides at all their terminals. Feb 15 2010 to April 1 2012 I was working for covenant a newbie training company riding / driving around the US with another dude in the truck.

if you manage to get hired remember a testament to you actualy changing old bad choices will be if you last and continue trucking. TIME with any trucking company also helps offset your past.


Most importantly though guys is once you get in and get steady , pay those fines and stuff off from your felonies and GET THEM FRICKEN EXPUNGED. ITS SUPER easy... it will also open more doors.... but you already knew that part!!