Trying to help a friend

Hey Guys,

I am trying to help a friend and need some guidance. I have a friend that is thinking of getting his CDL so he is asking me if he should do it. Here is the situation. He is 53 years old and in excellent health, he has a clean driving record and no criminal record. He worked for over 15 years with a restoration company and drove a straight truck (non cdl) daily and prior to that was in the Military. The issue is work history verification. The restoration company he worked for was part of a franchise chain and at the peak of Covid the owner of the business started having health issues and said F it and just shut it down. My friend had some money put aside so he spent the last few years doing the van life and just driving all over North America, his cash reserves has declined to the point where he is wanting to get back into steady employment. He asked me about OTR and that is where I am at. He has the money to pay for the CDL school and is not tied down so my question is how best to help him out?. Are there places that hire without being able to verify work history? The corporate office for the franchise said they do not have employment records for individual locations so no way to verify his employment with the company. He can verify the Military employment but that is a long time ago. Is this a deal killer for him?

 

Does he still have income tax records. If so, that verifies employment. That and his DD-214 is good enough.
Also, it's not unusual for retirees to return to the workforce as truckers.
Some are in their 70's and 80's.
For those 3 years, he was "retired", not "unemployed"
Where is his domicile; state and nearest city/town?

 

He has tax records from the franchise time and the DD-214 but nothing for like the last 3+ years. He is in the Dallas area but is willing to go wherever.

 

Last 3 years he was "Retired"
Plenty of choices in Dallas area.
Are you still in Las Vegas? He can move there also for jobs.
~
Millis Training Institute - Announcing Our Free …

• Burleson, Texas

 

Western Dairy Transport
Milk tankers.
Meals & lodging provided while in cdl school.
Hourly pay while in cdl school.

 

KLLM Driving Academy - KLLM Transport Services
Lancaster, Texas

 

Doing the "van life"?

Also of interest: can your friend pass a drug screen? Urine sample--and/or hair follicle?

Texas is a GREAT PLACE to look for a CDL "big rig" job...

-- Lual

 

The retirement angle I had never even considered and I actually mentioned to him just last night that he could stay by me while he is going thru CDL school.

 

Make sure on his applications, for the last 3 years, he was "retired" and not "unemployed"

 

The drug testing is no problem. He was in the same Unit I was while in the military so we had regular ongoing testing,