trying to get back to driving

[shoprat]

hi first post i have been reading a lot on here trying to brush up. i am 53 with 22 yrs driving all local(st paul minnesota)
last time i filled out a log book was 1979 i drove for monson for 7 months.i have tank/haz end.no tikets no accidents.but i havent driven since april 03.i have been a welder but got layed off dec 08.i am having a hard time finding any good
companys that will look at me without recent exp. and i wont do a team(crst called me)and without sounding like a jerk i dont think i should have to go on anything more than a quick check ride around the block.any suggestions and i will gladly answer honestly any ? you may have and thanks for any help.

[tinabell902]

Bad time to get into trucking. 24,000 trucking jobs gone in Jan. 2009 alone. Anybody hiring now is only hiring best of the best. Sorry for all the doom and gloom, but don't want to sugar coat it and you get stuck again. Good luck to ya though.

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

The old fantasy of "Have a CDL and one will have a job anytime, anywhere" is gone.
What companies are still around have raised their qualifications/requirements to become basically impossible to meet regardless of how much experience one possesses.

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

I'm really DONE with applying for driving positions as it has become a waste of time.
I'm just extremely worn out from trying to find places, pick up and delivery times, looking for parking to sleep, wash, etc., and all the new stupidity in trucking of can't IDLE seemingly anywhere to get rest/sleep, can't do this, can't do that, can't park here, can't go there...etc., etc., etc.

I'm focusing now upon Warehouse gigs within a 30 something mile radius of me home20. Basically a return to what I was doing before I ever began OTR.

[slimer]

in the same boat.
I called around thinking that my CDL will get me a job. Nope. They said I have to go back to CDL school because I have been out of trucking for five years.
At most I think I just need a refresher course.

[ranger309]

Originally Posted by Cerberus_Kelpie

The old fantasy of "Have a CDL and one will have a job anytime, anywhere" is gone.
What companies are still around have raised their qualifications/requirements to become basically impossible to meet regardless of how much experience one possesses.

If you are into some speciality of trucking like hauling boats and yatchs that might still be true, but how many of us have done such hauling?

You are right, the companies are hiring drivers that are : young and have a perfectly clean record.

In other words young newbies who don't have possible health issues and sqeaky clean records because they haven't been driving for very long or in tight conditions, yet.

How many of us who have 2 million miles or more under our belts driving rigs have *never* made a mistake or had a fender bender?

A: Not many.