Unable to join any CDL school due to bad employment history

There are two different types of enlistments. One is where the person signs enlistment papers and the service assigns them a job during basic training. This is actually what I did in 1975 with the Air Force. Then you have guaranteed jobs listed right on the paperwork. CaliRaised is right though. Even with a guaranteed job driving trucks, it is not a given you will drive a class A vehicle.

There is an interesting aspect to guaranteed Jobs at least in the 70s. People that have never served generally are aware of the types of discharges. Honorable, General etc. They are not aware of reenlistment codes that are part of discharged servicemembers' DD214. This code is akin to what a carrier places on your record about rehire. Someone discharged with a 1 for this code can take their DD214 and if they are otherwise qualified can actually reenlist and in some cases at least partially get some rank back. This is what is interesting. In the 70s there were only 2 ways to get a 1 on the DD214. Finish your 4 years OR the service can't put you in that guaranteed job and you elect to be discharged.

 

The only given when you join the military is yourself. You give yourself to the Government. Everything after that is up to them. You don't even get to decide whether or not you take an experimental vaccine. The papers you sign when joining the military aren't there to guarantee the enlistee anything, they're there so the military can use civilian means to enforce your servitude to them should you go AWOL. It's not a contract between two parties, it's a bill of sale.

 

No, in the case of the job being guaranteed and that guarantee is right on the enlistment papers signed you do get that job. You are right however with people such as myself that joined without a guaranteed job.

 

I'm not saying they won't assign him whatever job he signs up for, at least on paper, I'm saying they can have him doing whatever they want and he has no recourse. They could put him in a foxhole for his entire enlistment. If he complains that he's supposed to be a driver, they'll just say that drivers serve in foxholes now.

 

I don't know, I had a buddy join the Navy right out of high school to be a medic. And that's what he did while in the Navy.
After he got out he furthered his education and has been an RN for years.

 

I'm not going to debate this further with you, but that statement is not as it relates to the time I was serving, but I suspect it is the same today. Now a service member can do this on a voluntary basis. One of my best friends was on an enlistment with what was called AGE. He had already been in for almost 3 years. He wanted to change jobs and get into Avionics Maintenance. He had to do two things before manpower at Randolph AFB would consider him. He had to extend his enlistment a year, and he had to sign in the presence of either his Commanding Officer or 1st Sgt a form giving up that job. He went on to get that job and is today working for Delta Airlines.

 

Glad it worked out for them. I know plenty of people who've done similar things. As long as the military is fully staffed at most positions, soldiers shouldn't have any issue doing what they signed up for. The problem is when they're active duty during a conflict. If the miltary needs soldiers in a certain area, they're gonna put them there and no civilian court will interfere on the basis of their contract.

 

The "driver shortage" never existed. Only a shortage of drivers willing to put up with the crap a lot of companies pull.

Fun Fact: There are over 10 million CDL holders in the US, yet only 3.5 million positions that require a CDL.

Doesn't sound like a driver shortage to me.

I have been paying attention to the changing tides now that I am in the office... and boy have they changed in the last 6 weeks. We are rejecting applications left and right for those with background issues. We are getting a LOT of referrals from our drivers on the road talking to folks they meet who are beginning to get starved out by their employers due to falling rates and rising fuel costs. The sky is falling at a lot of companies; those who did the right thing and held jobs for longer periods of time will have no problem finding a new ride. The job-hoppers and those with background issues might have to find a new line of work for a while (or work for a carrier that is less than desirable).

I would also call up Swift and see what they say. They get a lot of bad press due to the sheer number of trucks they have, not because they are a bad operation. If you have over 20,000 trucks on the road, you will be involved in several crashes per year, its just the law of averages there. They have a good training program and they tend to hold the driver's hand while learning the ropes. Stick it out there for a year, and you can move to better pay, but don't fall for the 1099 crap or promises of super-high salaries. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

In the case of a declared National Emergency, not just a conflict, but when the national command authority declares it, then I will agree with this comment. However, the point of the topic as it relates to this thread it is not really relevant. Also, it is important to understand, that in such a National Emergency the services under the authority given to them under 50 U.S. Code can and will most likely conscript people.