Profile For Sam P.

Does anyone know if there are any company-sponsored cdl training programs out there that offer their students a paycheck BEFORE they earn their cdl? I am married (no kids) with rent, car payments, and bills to pay and my wife is on unemployment right now. We have no savings, as I am shelling out $118 from my paycheck each week just for health insurance for the two of us. We cannot afford to lose 3-4 weeks of pay for me to go to cdl training unless I am somehow getting paid all along. The only other option I see is somehow getting a loan from my bank to attend a local cdl school while still keeping my full-time night job. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks. Sam

Yeah I believe I forfeited the GI Bill when I got kicked out. The only benefit I have (although I haven't explored what else might be out there for me) is the veterans' life insurance.

Hi my name is Sam. I'm strongly considering doing the Driver Solutions thing and then driving for P.A.M. Transportation or USA Truck if everything goes well. I have no felony or misdemeanor convictions, but when I was in the Air Force 10 years ago I was arrested, court-martialed (summary court-martial) and given an Under-Other-Than-Honorable-Conditions discharge after having my security clearance revoked and spending 24 days in the brig. What led to this was a pattern of sexual misconduct (nothing involving children and I am not a registered sex offender). I have no civilian arrests, but I'm pretty sure my fingerprints/dna were sent to whatever federal database they have for that stuff. I pled guilty to all charges at my court-martial but was never convicted of any misdemeanors or felonies, since that's not what a summary court-martial is for (relatively minor offenses). A few months after I got sent home my discharge was upgraded to a General discharge, and I haven't been in any trouble since the Air Force.

My question is: should I even mention on the application that I was in the military, or will any trucking company find that out anyway when they run a background check? My concern is not getting into the school but actually securing a job after the school with one of the companies. In other words I don't want to get sent home from the school because they find out I lied about my past, or because they say there's no problem just to get me into the school but then change their minds halfway through the process when they do some digging. I feel like if I'm absolutely honest from the get-go I run the risk of them rejecting me, but I'd like to be honest about it because that's the type of person I am and hopefully they can overlook my past indiscretions since they obviously weren't serious enough to warrant a conviction or a punitive discharge.

Thanks for any advice anyone could give me about this matter. Sam