Driving Record (Accidents, Citations, Etc.)

Hi there,

I'm relatively new to this site, so here's my hello and thank you to all who make it possible. As for my question, I've scoured the forums for a relevant already existing topic, and didn't find anything. Maybe I missed it and someone can just point me there.

Here below, a little background on me.

Age: 23 Current Job: Delivery Driver for an auto paint supply company (just a pickup truck, stick shift)

So I got a Bachelor's degree at the behest of my mother, who would have killed herself if I didn't. I don't want to keep going to school. I love to drive. I've gotten better at it over the years, even though I had a rusty start.

My first choice for a career is looking like truck driving now that I've graduated college (some might gawk; others might understand, unlike my mother, that a college degree in social sciences isn't what it was 20 years ago). If not truck driving, I'll probably save up and aim for welding unless I somehow move up in one of the companies I work for until then.

HERE'S MY QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO'D PREFER TO SKIP THE BACKGROUND:

My single concern is my driving history. I've had about:

- 3 speeding tickets in 5 years. Nothing over 15 mph.

- Only 1 at-fault accident (a little over 3 years ago) within the last five years. Another one if we include a time frame of 10 years. The most recent one was a fender bender.

So I understand that some of you may see this and prefer that I just stay off the road entirely, and I may get a few responses that are like that. Nevertheless, I believe I've since taken up a passion for driving safely in a way that my reckless youth would not allow. I expect to be extremely safe and prove it from here on and for years to come.

Here's my questions:

How much of a problem do you expect my history to be if I went in and got my CDL today? If you could throw out a guess, what percentage of companies would you expect to turn me down regardless of their need for driver, just because of my record?

If I don't stand a chance, how much longer should I expect to have to continue driving without any incidents until I might stand a chance?

Thanks again!

Trucking Companies i do believe can be found here. Check the companies websites. They will let you know about what type of violations are not acceptable but honestly in a little over 3 year period 3 speeding tickets and one accident maybe a bit much for most companies. You will just have to check with each company and see wha they say.

So I understand that some of you may see this and prefer that I just stay off the road entirely, and I may get a few responses that are like that.

Welcome aboard Jordan! You won't hear that kind of stuff from us here at TruckingTruth. That's not how we roll. We'll do all we can to help you out.

What the trucking companies will mostly be looking at is traffic violations over the past 3 years and accidents over the past 5. If one or more of those speeding tickets are more than 3 years old then they likely won't count against you. So it's hard to say what the companies will think because I'm not sure how many of your tickets are in the past 3 years. One ticket - no problem. Two tickets - some companies will say that's a bit much, but it certainly wouldn't stop you from finding work in the industry. If all three were in the past three years I'd say wait a little bit for one or two to reach three years old, then get into trucking.

But there's a pretty good system for finding out if you're eligible for work without having to commit to a truck driving school. It's called the pre-hire system and you can find a great article about it here: Understanding The Pre-Hire System. That's what you'll want to do before committing to a school - try to get at least 2 or 3 pre-hires. If you can do that, you can be sure you'll be able to find employment in the trucking industry after graduating from a legitimate school with your CDL.

So I understand that some of you may see this and prefer that I just stay off the road entirely, and I may get a few responses that are like that.

Welcome aboard Jordan! You won't hear that kind of stuff from us here at TruckingTruth. That's not how we roll. We'll do all we can to help you out.

What the trucking companies will mostly be looking at is traffic violations over the past 3 years and accidents over the past 5. If one or more of those speeding tickets are more than 3 years old then they likely won't count against you. So it's hard to say what the companies will think because I'm not sure how many of your tickets are in the past 3 years. One ticket - no problem. Two tickets - some companies will say that's a bit much, but it certainly wouldn't stop you from finding work in the industry. If all three were in the past three years I'd say wait a little bit for one or two to reach three years old, then get into trucking.

But there's a pretty good system for finding out if you're eligible for work without having to commit to a truck driving school. It's called the pre-hire system and you can find a great article about it here: Understanding The Pre-Hire System. That's what you'll want to do before committing to a school - try to get at least 2 or 3 pre-hires. If you can do that, you can be sure you'll be able to find employment in the trucking industry after graduating from a legitimate school with your CDL.

Thanks for the super helpful reply! It looks like I'll probably want to stick it out for a little while to clean up my record. Though it definitely can't hurt to try the pre-hiring system out!

I am currently in school for welding and I have to say if you street going into the private sector of that industry expect to make less than a truck driver...please understand that I'm not slamming truck driver salaries, but I am slamming the welding industry. The private sector is cutting pay, benefits, overtime and are going more towards contract work. Unless you are a head welder or are already established ur screwed....if you go union then you have to be an apprentice for x amount of time and just when you are becoming a journeyman ur union is most likely going on strike... Idk about trucking yet but it appears I will either be going to a private school for trucking or company sponsored, but it's definitely happening around September.

Good luck, Kevin