I thought you needed to have a bad record to be refused

I have 7 years of F/B and tanker experience from 20 years ago.

Went to college, moved into fleet management and raised my kids.

Now I want to get back in the game and get on the road.

SO...I sign on with a team outfit and drive teams for them for 7 months with the understanding that I will use the rig for my CDL test.

VA DMV would not let me take the test on a vehicle with out of state tags on it.

SO...I spent 6 weeks in school (and it was well worth the time I spent, the logs and everything changed so much, I would have been lost otherwise.)

So now I have 6 months and a Class A CDL.

NO ONE WILL HIRE ME.

17 years without a moving violation.
No dope, no arrests, let alone convictions...

The reason they give?

My experience is on a permit, not a CDL.

The small companies are bound by the insurance to have 24 months recent, so they are all out.

Taking a year off to travel (pardon me for saving a few bucks and enjoying life for a year before I die) disqualifies me because I had too long being unemployed.

You have got to be kidding me! Here I sit with a valid license, clean as a whistle and I cannot get a job?

Do I need to volunteer for swift for a year and pay them to let me drive a damned truck?

Are there no outfits out there left who judge a man on his skill and word?

I truly cannot believe what is happening here.

Have any of you dealt with this crap?

What did you do?

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by SHELTIEHERDER

I have 7 years of F/B and tanker experience from 20 years ago.

Went to college, moved into fleet management and raised my kids.

Now I want to get back in the game and get on the road.

SO...I sign on with a team outfit and drive teams for them for 7 months with the understanding that I will use the rig for my CDL test.

VA DMV would not let me take the test on a vehicle with out of state tags on it.

SO...I spent 6 weeks in school (and it was well worth the time I spent, the logs and everything changed so much, I would have been lost otherwise.)

So now I have 6 months and a Class A CDL.

NO ONE WILL HIRE ME.

17 years without a moving violation.
No dope, no arrests, let alone convictions...

The reason they give?

My experience is on a permit, not a CDL.

The small companies are bound by the insurance to have 24 months recent, so they are all out.

Taking a year off to travel (pardon me for saving a few bucks and enjoying life for a year before I die) disqualifies me because I had too long being unemployed.

You have got to be kidding me! Here I sit with a valid license, clean as a whistle and I cannot get a job?

Do I need to volunteer for swift for a year and pay them to let me drive a damned truck?

Are there no outfits out there left who judge a man on his skill and word?

I truly cannot believe what is happening here.

Have any of you dealt with this crap?

What did you do?

sorry to hear that you cannot find a job, but understand too that your former experience was on an old out dated license.....which i'm guessing you didn't keep up with or got "grandfathered in" when the CDL's became official in 1992.


its in your favor your driving record is CLEAR indeed.

yes, you may have to go to Swift, Werner, whomever to obtian a driving job. but you live in VA, and depending upon where exactly you live, there might be some companies stationed there, like Celadon in Richmond for instance. then i believe there is a company named Wilson, Estes, and Northeasten?

as for "your word"....and "skill", what you might want to try and understand is that so many people in the past gave "thier word of honor" they were good, clean, experienced, and many trucking companies got burnt....so as a result, your word is, well.......worthless.........

now by going away and enjoying life before you die, this didn't help you being unemployed for that period of time. as they said, too much time elapsed in your employment period.....you'll need to start fresh like all the students getting thier license for the first time..

i suggest getting any trucking job you can get, OTR, spare, part time, whatever, and "do your time" again.....try and get a solid 6 months driving, especially winter driving, then look around again..

times are tough now as you know. trucking companies CAN AND WILL BE picky in who they hire right now. a person's word isn't worth anything, anymore. you'll have to prove yourself all over again.

there can be other underlying reasons why you can't get hired on. i for instance have 20 years, was gone from the business for about 2 years, got a job with a snap of the finger.......but, i have my experience on a CDL license, which by the way, was an "chaufer's license" my state had for truckers before the CDL became official, which was my first truckers license. i was "grandfathered" to the CDL.

[sisz]

I would of had the same problem except I had a relative and people I knew personally. If you know an independent who is willing to tell a little white lie to the insurance company, you'll be a shoe in. I was out for 15 years and got back into it 2.5 years ago. I've done my two years and managed not to get a ticket so I can go pretty much go any where I want to go. Lucky for me I've found my dream job; great money and home every weekend; might be a friday-saturday or a sat-sunday; just depends on the week. Good luck but look for some who knows someone; word of mouth will work with the right people. toodles

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

Experience on a Permit IS STILL EXPERIENCE, but the dimwits WE have to deal with nowadays aren't worth talking to or trying to convince because they're basically deaf and dumb.
Were I in your shoes, of course then I would be you and wouldn't know what to do....wait a minute......I'm reconfiguring.......or redirecting.......anyways, were I in the place you are in I would STEER CLEAR of getting back into a Truck because of all the Hoops one has to jump through even though you have spent some funds in the preparation.
I understand from where you stand however if you have to begin again as if you've never before driven a Truck (Combo), then I personally wouldn't bother and I would just again take some time off and do more traveling or sight seeing or whatever.


Trucking ain't what it was and it'll never be again.
The longer I'm in it, the more I wish I never started.

I Hope Life finds you well in all your pursuits.

[pro1driver]

Originally Posted by Cerberus_Kelpie

Experience on a Permit IS STILL EXPERIENCE, but the dimwits WE have to deal with nowadays aren't worth talking to or trying to convince because they're basically deaf and dumb.

ok Cerberus here is where (according to your recent PM to me, where we "slap each other"), so "get ready"....

when driving on a learner's permit, you are not alone. there is someone basically "baby-sitting" the driver. now yes, the "learner" is doing the driving, but not entirely on his/her own....if that learner were to make a mistake, the person with the valid license would be there to help make verbal corrections. thusly, the learner isn't driving by any experience learnt by himself.....a sort of "safety valve" if you will.....PLUS, if i am not mistaken, any accident or ticket the learner gets, actually goes to the person with the valid license, as THAT person IS responsible for the permitted driver.....

now i would say, that 6 months of either solo or even team driving would be experience for sure.....but a learner's permit, heck, legally, that person cannot drive across state lines, as a permit is issued by the state of that person's residence, or has that changed, anyone know...???

but if true, on a limited learner's permit (staying with-in your home state), then not too much learning can be done to satisfy any company, as it would all be dependant on the availability of a driver with a valid license to accompany the permitted driver.

let's also try to put together a time line from the original poster. he HAD experience, here is what he said, "I have 7 years of F/B and tanker experience from 20 years ago."

he had at least a 20 year gap when he left the trucking industry. so he can just "throw away" that experience as its too old to know his level of experience. if he had (say) a 2 year gap when he left trucking, then of course there should have been no problems getting a job....BUT, i feel that he is being treated as a complete new, inexperienced person, in need of paying his dues all over again.

i do wish him well, but 20 years is 20 years....he even admitted, "SO...I spent 6 weeks in school (and it was well worth the time I spent, the logs and everything changed so much, I would have been lost otherwise.)"

that statement in of itself, indicates how much he had/has forgotten about trucking.........how do we even know if he was able to manuver/back-up the school rig properly...???

i'll just bet.......he was so rusty.......he was just like any other student at first, till it all came back to him...

Were I in your shoes, of course then I would be you and wouldn't know what to do....wait a minute......I'm reconfiguring.......or redirecting.......anyways, were I in the place you are in I would STEER CLEAR of getting back into a Truck because of all the Hoops one has to jump through even though you have spent some funds in the preparation.
I understand from where you stand however if you have to begin again as if you've never before driven a Truck (Combo), then I personally wouldn't bother and I would just again take some time off and do more traveling or sight seeing or whatever.


Trucking ain't what it was and it'll never be again.
The longer I'm in it, the more I wish I never started.

I Hope Life finds you well in all your pursuits.

yes, the "hoops" and everything else, is right on......i would have not re-entered the industry myself after a 20 year gap..........at least not as a driver, but maybe a well paid yardman, or even a dispatcher........

now, Cerberus......don't "slap" too hard......because i'll be thinking of "Bryce" when you do it.....!!!!!!

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

Thank You pro1 and I only felt the breeze from the attempt.
There wasn't anything for me to slap about as I saw your post as INFORMATION I obviously hadn't considered.
Hasta La Vista!!