Comments By Cold War Surplus

Love's will print email attachments for $2.00/page. Just send an email to the Love's store you want to pick up your prints up at. The Love's in Troutdale, OR is store 449, so you would email your attachments to: store449@Loves.com to pick them up there. Not the cheapest solution but very convenient.

Apples and oranges. Gaps in your work history are an indication of a worker who had problems finding a job because of attitude or other problems or just didn't take the responsibility seriously. I suspect your attitude may have influenced their decision. Donald was certified by a doctor as being medically unable to work but now wants to be a productive member of society. Different employers have different requirements. When I started out Roehl wouldn't hire because I live outside of their hiring area but that doesn't mean I didn't earn a good living driving for one of the many companies that would hire me.

I've met drivers who were in prison, keeping house/raising children, going to school, running their own business or doing other activities besides what most would call, "work". They got a job driving a truck because they were able to document what they were doing with their time.

You didn't name the companies you want to work for so I can't know for sure, but it sounds like their problem is with SD, NOT California. Fortunately for you California is a huge state and there are plenty of places in California most companies will hire from. Change your address to Los Angeles/Riverside or Sacramento - keeping your domicile state - but putting yourself in major freight lanes that employers will hire from.

Schneider intermodal was my, "plan B" so I seriously looked into it recently. If you hustle, you can make three deliveries a day. You get cpm, $35 per delivery, a fee for hooking and unhooking and a couple of other fees. You can generally come in on your days off too for extra money. A good driver in a busy market can clear ~$300/a day.

Chicago is a busy yard. Schneider sends their new intermodal drivers there for training.

You have a work history, it just doesn't involve working. The purpose of the background check is more about proving you weren't hanging out at an ISIS training camp training to kill infidels, not proving that your butt polished a chair somewhere. Fortunately, your work history is full of documentation from medical records and government payments so it shouldn't be that hard to prove your story.

Did you have a driver's license during that time? Employers are going to want to see that you have at least one year of recent driving history and a valid driver's license. That may be a bigger hurdle.

It will go on your DAC and future employers will be able to see it. Yes, you can include a statement on your DAC report telling your side of the story but I doubt that will change anyone's mind. It happened, you were responsible and your employer had to pay a tow bill. Not the best thing to have on your DAC, but it isn't the end of the world either. A lot of companies will still hire you, just be honest and disclose it during the interview process.

I know of at least one company that pays for training and hires convicts - CRST. You'll have to drive team but they hire a lot of new drivers others won't touch. . I don't know the details of your conviction but I've meet drivers with Grand Theft Auto, Manslaughter and other crimes normally dismissed by the industry on the payroll. They run the lower-48, but runs into the Pacific Northwest or north of New York are rare.

I inherited a trainee after he had spent three weeks on another trainer's truck. I went over the trip plan with him (including a fuel stop) and went to rest in the sleeper berth. He woke me up at the fuel island to ask if he was supposed to fill the other tank with diesel or DEF? I told him that, yes, he was supposed to fill both tanks with diesel. What did he put in the other tank? "Diesel and DEF!" Rarely is there a commotion on my truck like there was with me shoving on my boots and leaping out of my bunk that night! "You put DEF in the diesel tank?", I asked. "Yep". "Hand me the key. DO NOT start the engine".

The owner-operator that trained him for three weeks had never bothered to show him how to fuel the truck! Of course, he failed to mention that he had no idea how to fuel the truck. Then, the trucking God smiled upon me - the trainee asked, "Don't they come out of the same nozzle?" I climbed out of the truck and had him stand next to the fuel pump with me. I pulled out the DEF pump and asked him, "Is this the hose you used in that tank?" while pointing at the Diesel tank. He looked wide-eyed because he had never seen a DEF pump before. "No" he replied. I then showed him the DEF tank hidden under the driver's door in a Cascadia. "Did you put any diesel in this tank?", I asked. "No". After a brief discussion I found out that he thought that diesel and DEF were pre-mixed and had no idea there was a separate nozzle and tank for DEF.

I got a merciful reminder that night that a trainee knows nothing until I teach it to them.

I am a trainer at CRST. Like all large carriers, CRST walks the fine line between maintaining standards and keeping butts in trucks. As a trainee, their standards seemed capricious and arbitrary - sending people home for seemingly minor things and keeping people who I wouldn't have in my home, let alone hire to work for me. There is a method to their madness though. The trainee with FIVE FELONIES and the prospective co-driver with a murder conviction (to be 100% truthful he pled it down to manslaughter) both TOLD THE TRUTH FROM DAY ONE and got hired! The driver who backed into a few trucks at truck stops and the driver with a misdemeanor conviction both, "forgot" to disclose these things and got sent home!

I successfully completed my contract. No, they don't withhold your license, you need that to drive one of their trucks. Their contract terms are different than most companies. You repay the cost of your ticket to truck school and the cost of your meals at truck school and that's it - the rest is forgiven. You drive for 10 months and you are free to walk away. Many trucking companies just provide an interest-free loan that requires you to make payments over a year or more. That said, if you don't meet the terms of the contract you signed they offer you the choice of paying back the amount in full or coming back to CRST to honor the contract. The terms of the contract you signed includes a non-compete clause. If you work for another company before completing your contract CRST will sue that company for violating the terms of your non-compete agreement. The other companies know this and will refuse to hire you until you finish your contract.

While the hiring standards seem harsh, as a trainer I'm thankful that all the problem children get sent home before one of them gets on my truck. I've never had a trainee that was less than reverent on my truck and I'm sure that's why.

Trucking is a dangerous job. In 2014 (most recent year that statistics are available for) 880 drivers died while trying to operate a CMV. CRST's safety record is about average for a fleet their size.

Does CRST have shortcomings? All companies do! A total of FOUR terminals to serve the lower 48, a medieval attitude on alcohol (your truck has been in a wreck and is 300 miles away and 10 days from being repaired - we might need to drive another truck in an emergency so stay sober or we'll fire you), getting an RO to have your truck worked on is like pulling teeth - you'll swear Maintenance had to search under the sofa cushions in the lobby to get enough spare change to pay for your truck's repairs to justify the wait. Do your time, learn what you can and be thankful that someone gave you the opportunity to start in this industry even if was just CRST.

Today is your lucky day. I'm at the CR terminal. I'll be glad to address your concerns. Look for the laptop next to the pool tables.

I am a trainer. It's definitely a different vibe on the truck when you are responsible for EVERYTHING on the truck. Every time the trainee gets themselves into a bind their eager, wide-open eyes look to you for an answer - 24/7. Every time a macro isn't sent, hours are unverified or the truck's GPS says the truck is in Syria dispatch expect you to fix it.

Different companies have different expectations about what they call training. Fortunately, CRST lets the trainer watch the trainee drive for the first week or so before moving into team driving mode. This gives you a pretty good idea of where the trainee's skill level is. You are placing your life in the other driver's hands so it's important to use good judgement. Training is serious business. Last month a trainer decided it was a good idea to let an inexperienced trainee driver loose on I-84 in a snowstorm. The trainer ended up in the hospital, but the trainee was killed instantly.