Comments By Animal

The DOT regulations require Trucking companies to have a minimum of 3 years work history and up and an additional 7 if there's driving history beyond 3 years. If they don't have proper employment history, they get violations on DOT audits and it seems like each DOT auditor sort of has his or her own take on the regulation interpretation. For that reason most companies just go with a 10 year history on all drivers, that way they can't go wrong in an audit. Employment history also means not employed history. It has been my experience with student companies they are less concerned about not having worked than they are about not being able to stich together a nice neat accounting of what you've been doing for the last 10 years. I mean you were not able to work and when you did it was not so good temp jobs. That's why you went to school right? To get a CDL and be able to get a good job. As long as you weren't fired from a job for dishonesty or drugs, that sort of thing and you have a clean criminal record and good driving record and you can put together a 10 year timeline of what you were doing so they don't get hit with a DOT violation during an audit for not having obtained a full employment (including periods of unemployment) history, I don't think you'll have much trouble. Best of Luck!

@ Steven B. The license is just the beginning. It means "minimum standard met". Schools and training programs are fine but they teach basics. Some are better than others. A tractor trailer weighing 80,000 pounds, about eight feet wide, almost 14 feet tall and about 70 feet long moving at 60 MPH contains a little more destructive energy than three sticks of dynamite when it comes into contact with another solid object - say a minivan with kids in it, and it takes longer than a football field to stop - under ideal conditions. Perfect brakes, perfect road and perfect tires. When was the last time any of us drove in laboratory perfect conditions - so add more stopping distance and add more destructive energy at 70 and in real world conditions. It takes more than a course at a school, passing the state's minimum qualification tests and a couple of months with a trainer to master the skills necessary to do the job properly. It takes getting out there and doing it day in and day out. Facing the situations you can't recreate in a class room or didn't come across in OTR training. It takes dedicated effort to developing your tradecraft skills and TIME (experience). Odds are 80 to 1 in favor of a first year CDL Driver being involved in an accident.

The most unpredictable thing on God's green earth is a four wheeler. That has been so since trucks and cars began sharing the road and will be so for a time nobody can see. It will get worse as portable technology continues to make it possible to do all manner of distracting things on hand held devices - held in the hands of people driving vehicles that haven't had the first bit of training since they were in driver's ed as a teenager, yet outnumber professional drivers 10 to 1 on the highway. It's a FACT of life as a trucker, yet the LAST thing any of want to do is bump into one of them, no matter how dumb a thing they just did. The results are often catastrophic and tragic.

So yes, trucking companies, and their insurance carriers DO favor time in the safe practice of the art and science of truck driving over novices and beginners, as do other professions. Experienced Carpenters, Welders, Brick Layers, Computer Technicians, Mechanics, Nurses - you name it and everyone gets paid more and is a favored hire when they have experience. That's just life. Not just in trucking but everywhere. No matter what your profession; if you are new to it you have to pay your dues learning to actually master what they can't teach you in school or measure on a state exam that says: "OK he meets the MINIMUM standard". That takes time and years of practice, and YES you won't get paid as much as those that have more experience while you're gaining that experience. But you'll still get paid. If someone told you otherwise - I'm sorry but you were misled. Perhaps misled in life's realities in general, or an attitude problem but giving you the benefit of the doubt - just misled. Now it's up to you how you deal with reality. B!+ch - or get down to mastering the skills and gaining the experience that can lead to a very fulfilling, challenging and rewarding career. Trucking is what YOU make of IT; not what IT makes of YOU. Choice its yours. Nobody else's.

Peace and blessings be with you. I mean that sincerely.

I haven't been an OTR driver, or driven much at all really in 7 years. In April I was laid off from my office job. I was the Safety Director for a trucking company but it was short haul, day cabs with end dumps. The only driving I did in that times was occasionally picking up a rig from a drivers home or wherever he left it, retrieving the truck from a scale because the driver was placed out of service (log book). So since I have my CDL and need a job (Safety Positions are hard to come by), but haven't been employed as a driver in 7 years I have to start over, which means paying my dues OTR all over again. I didn't have to go to school again, I have had a CDL since '98, but I did finally find a company that said they'd take me, but I'd be considered as a student and have to go out w/ a trainer for a few weeks, which is fine. I guarantee my skills are rusty. I think that's a good idea. How long would be according to how I did on my road test. It is Super Service. Don't remember hearing much about them when I was an OTR driver. I am just finding myself very, very nervous about going out OTR again and with such a big company. My recollection is that even the nicest recruiters were not really accurate and when you get there it was nothing like they said it'd be, and all the big companies basically did things the same way. Seven years is a long time driving a desk. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, particularly if anyone has the real deal info on Super Service. Thanks.