Trying to help a friend

There's a couple of good private cdl schools in Las Vegas:
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CDL Training Schools near Las Vegas, NV

• Southwest Truck Driver Training – North Las Vegas, NV 89081
• RTDS Trucking School – Las Vegas, NV 89118

 

Verifying work history for the last 3 years is a FMCSA requirement. That just means the friend need to document (write in down) his past 3 years and the trucking company that chooses to hire him must make a reasonable effort to verify that information.

If he worked for a large chain business that has a national presence then he can create a letterhead of that national chain and type up a letter on it describing his work experience and dates for that national company and using the local address and phone number and owner info as best he knows it. He isn't expected to get a letter from the Pope attesting to the accuracy of the info and he isn't expected to keep the current phone number and address for that previous employer updated.

That said, the industry is more slow than in the past so lost of trucking companies are not currently hiring drivers with no recent driving experience. Lots of drivers with 10 plus years of CDL experience took a break from driving and are finding it harder than normal to get a new driving job because of that break in "recent experience". The key is to find the company where he can work and be happy, not just to accept any ol random bottom-of-the-barrel truck driving job and then quit in 23 days when it is too hard and too little pay. I would suggest your friend get a local non-CDL job while he THOROUGHLY researches trucking companies that match what he wants. 99% of people entering trucking wait until they are about to get kicked out of their apartment, have spent 120% of all the money they have and have nowhere to go and then take the first offer from a shady trucking mega company that SUGGESTS "FREE" CDL SCHOOL and a job. The companies that will hire anyone that applies are terrible places to work and 80-90% of first year CDL drivers quit and leave the industry, only they now owe money for the "free" CDL school since they didn't stay for the full year as the contract required. Rushing into this industry is almost a guarantee you work at the worst companies, make the least money, and leave very very quickly. Slow and steady research and VERIFICATION of company info is how you get good results. Company websites and what company recruiters say are not binding on the trucking company. They always say things in a way that you cannot hold them to what you think are promises. They ARE NOT promises, they are marketing terms to attract naïve people.

 

Personal choice. Many drivers are fine with a contract and some aren't.

 

If he attends one of the private cdl schools I listed, in Las Vegas, he'll have plenty of choices after graduation. Not as many as in Texas though.

 

Best option: see if your friend can qualify for any grants/scholarships for a nearby CDL program at a community college, or tech school.

Those courses last longer than those CDL carrier programs--thus, they're more laid back...& often the quality of the instruction is just better.

Later on...when he graduates...he is not "under contract" with any particular carrier...& thus he goes out into a truly level CDL playing field.

The above is exactly what I did; thus, I can personally recommend it.

-- Lual

 

To turn the tables on this problem--tell the friend to go ahead, & get ALL the CDL endorsements (tanker, hazmat...& also...doubles/triples)...when he gets his CDL.

Why?

Those endorsements will make him stand out from other CDL job applicants--& he will also look more serious about his job, to prospective employers.

In Texas--if he looks in the right places (& with those endorsements)--he should find a job before long.

-- Lual

 

Texas WIOA Program pays for cdl school at no cost to the student.