Training as someone who has cdl already

You have to account for all of your time going back 7 to 10 years on your application, even if it is something like caregiving for parent or spouse etc. You cannot have gaps in between actual wage paying jobs and claim you did absolutely nothing. This is a Homeland Security type requirement that companies require of you to account for your in between jobs.

You will be treated as a newbie. Refresher school is quite possible. I have a life time out there in trucking that no longer exists on paper. So I can expect a complete and total redoing everything all over again from scratch.

Check with your DMV to be sure that if you have a current VALID DOT Medical card and all other things up to date you can swear out a affidavit to Tier One. That is full Interstate, Intrastate trucking etc. Essentially you plan on going back to work. Medical is tied to CDL now.

If you DO NOT have a valid Medical card today, go to the DMV and swear out a Tier two or other appropriate tier so your CDL is not made not valid by the state because of not being used in trucking with a Current medical card. Change to Tier one the day you get hired.

Asking if it is Urine test only is a HUGE red flag. Either you have done drugs, legally or not that will be detected in Hair going back up to almost a year for example. You need doctors notes covering dates you were given these meds and why. If you are from a state with legal medical or rec pot or both and used pot, it's a automatic DQ against CDL trucking. (Schedule one drugs) If you are currently taking Hydrocodone or morphine or any other schedule two or three pain meds while healing from a broken bone etc this year, as of Jan 1 those medcines are illegal to have in a CDL trucking situation. You must be completely off those meds half life length times 7 cycles of time before you are cleared to return to trucking and get back to work.

More than likely you will be with a trainer. Be warned that some trainers are not the best, others will Mule you miles for a bunch of personal income off your back. And some are pretty good. Most company trainers like I was have a specific time period to break the rust off you, FFE usually gives me a student for 12 weeks. Then retest you top to bottom in a skills test and so on before you are accepted as a solo at the end of those 12 weeks. If I did not do my job properly and you fail badly, my own status as trainer is at risk. I only had one student with FFE, My spouse. If you know anything about wives not listening to husbands in marriage, she can be a most difficult student.

Company pay as little as they can get away with. If you think 0.32 is awesome that is what you might get after you get solo. You get paid even lower during training. Blame that on the current inflow of cheap immigrant wages to those who take up trucking on very little pay.

Reefer? The only thing I ever did well with them is Medicines via McKesson as a account. High dollar million plus loads that don't weight very much and drop hook, reload with cardboard back to memphis in 30 minutes. No BS like in grocery, produce, meat etc. I spent most of my life with that reefer BS. You lose so much time sitting still and paying so much for lumpers. It's disgusting.

I can go on, but those are answers to your specific questions.

 

That's not the worst if it gets you back in trucking. If you prove you can drive to his standards they may cut you loose sooner.

 

You are going to find this almost any where you go because your lack of driving history/no recent driving experience.

Majority of the companies will make you go through their training program and sign a contract with them.

Where ever you go good luck hope for the best for you.

 

Explain to me please why are we involving a contract? This man already holds a CDL.

Indentured servitude via voluntary signing of binding contracts to get a job is not acceptable. I consider them the most risky of all problems because truckers in the first year are thrown away, discharged, fired etc for the smallest of losses, preventables, damage, OSD etc. (And service failures or late especially.)

You cannot expect a time based contract to stand when employee might not even make it three months.

 

5 years without recent exp is the cutoff for quite a few places. Keep looking.

 

I just noticed you are in Chicagoland. Plenty of 1099 company's that won't even care as long as you can warm the seat and make them money. Good enough to get some recent exp and go someplace better.