Will I be able to join a school or get a job?

I’ll be 31 in a few months. Wanting to get into trucking as I feel it might be my only option. I only have 2 years of work experience in that time. The rest I haven’t been able to work. Don’t wanna get much into that but I’m getting better mentally and feel like I can now.

Is it to late for me? Will Schneider, Prime, Swift etc hire me or do they require more work history? It would be my goal to get a class a license with all other endorsements offered and be an OTR driver for a few years or maybe do tanker those 2 seem the best for me as I’m extremely introverted anyway.

I also dropped out of high school don’t have my GED either does that matter to these companies? I do plan on trying to get it but if it’s not a requirement I’d rather get the job first and the GED after as I feel the GED would take me a long time and I sorta need a job.

 

No, at age 31 it's certainly not too "late" for you to join the "knights of the highway".

I got in at age 56.

Those carriers you mentioned will still want to know what you've been doing with yourself over the last 10 years.

Yes....it's ridiculous.....but...it is what it is.

They will also ask you about:

• your driving history (any accidents, citations, DUIs, how long you've had a US driver's license)
• your criminal history (any felonies, misdemeanors, arrests)
• your medical history/status (blood pressure, diabetes, any mental health issues, etc)
• your track record with recreational drugs (if any)

Also -- some areas offer a better CDL job market for beginners....than others.

Thus -- what is your zip code from which you will be working/driving?

-- L

 

Those schools are sensitive about work history. I was turned down by prime in 2013 because I had listed a job I had been working at for the last six years, but had failed to mention a second job I had for a year and a half in the middle of those six years.

Ended up training with CR England, they were a little more lenient and only requires me to drive for six months with them.

 

Yea that’s what I was afraid of didn’t think they’d ask about mental health but that’s why I haven’t been working well basically never had a job only 1 So think I’m screwed with that

 

I’m around the Miami area but I want to do OTR so don’t really care where I have to go to. School wise I’m still researching trying to find the best one

 

Get a job delivering pizza for a couple years. This will reveal to yourself if you are ready for this. Otr is a 70 hour a week job. Find out if you really like driving.

With two years of consecutive work history, one of the rookie truck companies might give you a shot. It is a lot of money they invest to train you, so they like to see employment consistency that would indicate you will be sticking around.

 

I love driving sometimes I go out at night and just drive for a few hours. I get trucking is nothing like that but I think I’d enjoy it.

I pretty much live in a room sized apartment and I like small spaces. I do plan on going to a school on my own and paying for it to get my CDL and endorsements before applying to a company so I don’t think they’ll have to shell out much money on me besides a trainer for 30,000 miles.

 

Find something local guy. OTR has become to cutthroat, companies are way to crappy, and dog eat dog these days.

Basically no longer worth the hassle and expense.

 

Make sure you apply for a job Before investing your own money in a cdl school. Make sure the company knows all your details and agrees to hire you when you get your license. There have been countless folks that come here and say they are unable to find work after having spent thousands of dollars at a cdl school. Then after a few months of no job, the cdl they paid all that money for becomes even more worthless because now everyone tells them that they need recent schooling.

 

That sucks is there any reason why that is happening to people? Would think companies would hire or train someone that completed CDL training.