Profile For PJ

Welcome, congrats on getting your cdl, that is a big milestone.

You packed alot in your short post. The first thing that jumped out too me is you have a cdl and no job yet, or your brand new and looking toward flatbed companies. You didn’t specify.

There are several of us that do flatbed and have done other modes. You didn’t say, but why are you looking toward flatbed?

If you have researched for a decade or so you should have noticied some big shifts in trucking, and not for the better for small companies. They are going out of business every month.

Are you looking to lease onto a company or get your own authority???

Insurance is a big issue. It goes up every year. I have a great insurance agent and the last three years my insurance has gone up. I have had no claims of any kind, a good csa score and clean cdl. It still goes up.

Leasing a truck onto a big company can save you money on insurance, but then they take a chunk of your trucks revenue. usually about 1/3.

If you don’t have a customer base of your own then I would not consider starting out on your own these days. More and more companies are going with brokers and it is horrible for small companies. Even then customers always come and go.

I would get some experience and revisit your dream in several years if your still interested.

Trucking is still here and always will be.

We’ve been in the toilet the past 3 years now. All the so called experts have termed it the great freight depression. Then you have the ATA screaming driver shortage in the same breath they say rates are down due over capacity. Both cannot be true.

Companies are going out of business at a rapid pace, but still new carriers are coming online. Big carriers are reporting loss’s several quarters in a row.

How long this can endure no one knows, but brokers are touting positive earnings. In a nutshell brokers are becoming the bigger players. Now they are using AI and not even trying to negoaite with carriers any more.

If they curtail the foreign drivers and companies hauling for pennies and brokers have to start being transparent with their rates then maybe things will start to turn around.

Welcome, I’ll give you my opinion. First I would look at company sponsored schools. The employment history issue is a federal requirement and most companies just need letters from people that know your situation. Get them notorized. They just have to show you were not is some foreign country being radicalized.

Your bigger issue is your medical, and a mental health issue will be regarded as medical. That will be looked at much harder than the lack of employment. Be prepared to answer any questions honestly, and they will also want info from your dr.

I would not spend money to get a cdl then find out you may not be employable.

Companies that train will look at all that up front.

Your basic info is not enough to know if your employable as a driver or not. I would lean toward if no training company will hire you, then you may need to look at a different proffession.

I would hate for you to spend money and time on something, if you won’t get a return on your investment.

Best wishes for you!!

“my back trailer ran over a brick like paver and snaped the weld of my product valve and when it fell, it took out an air hose as well.”

That doesn’t sound like a small brick or paver. It sounds more like a small wall. The valve and air hoses are not that low to the ground. I pull a lowboy which is really low to the ground and have never damaged air lines.

“I got no response, so I proceeded to get my second load of the day and when I got to my destination, it broke down”

This was your inexperience shinning through very brighty. You felt something was wrong enough to call someone, but choose to keep driving because noone told you not too.

We have to make on the fly decisions multiple times everday. Those choices are often critical to our success and/or failure.

You certainly picked the wrong type of driving job to learn at. Most of the types of companies you describe are fast paced enviroments. They are not typically good ones for inexperienced drivers. As you have found out the hard way.

At this point all you can do is keep applying everywhere and see if someone is willing to give you a chance.

If you get an interview admit your mistakes and tell them what you have learned from the incidents.

IF YOU try to minimize anything and give the impression these things happened any other way than it being your fault you will never find anyone willing to give you a shot.

Probably not a response you hoped for, but it is honestly where you are at.

I wouldn’t think too much into it. TMC is very well known for being very picky.

It is probably more they don’t have a need in the area you live more than anything.

Now that is a loaded bunch of statements.

Alot of us have older trucks. Take a good look as your out and about. The problems are far less than all the stuff on newer trucks. Yes they are paid for and my maintance bills are far less than paying for a 200k + truck payment.

Manuals are still out there. The majority of auto’s are the mega carriers. They represent approx 10-15 percent of the total trucks out here. That is in no way considered a majority. Many auto’s mega’s have sold off are out here. Still a smaller percentage of overall number of trucks on the road each day.

Congrats… Don’t worry about others leaving, as OS said it always happens for various reasons.

I am about to turn 65 next month and I don’t normally do general freight. I generally haul the same product just in different forms.

Pay good attention to detail with load securement. Secure it properly and keep an eye on it while you have it and you will be fine.

Most drivers get into trouble because they don’t secure it properly in the beginning and don’t keep an eye on it. Straps can and will loosen up, and so will chains.

Always remember, it is better to over secure it, than under secure it.

Doc I do believe you have missed the point of this website. This is not a typical social media site. We try our best to educate folks looking to get into the trucking industry and give them honest information, which includes telling people if they are worried about a drug test then they aren’t going to last in this industry.

I’m sure you are passionate about your cause. However the federal rules prohibit cdl holders from having any thc in their system period. Folks that are in need of your services should not be driving trucks.

Your arguments are best suited toward gov’t officals to enact changes, as I’m sure you already are aware.

Never heard of them. I looked them up and appears to be a broker out of MN.

It won’t appear on your csa score since you were not issued a citation by LE. Reporting to DAC is totally up to the company. Alot of companies don’t use DAC reports at all.

If they said they weren’t going to report it then I wouldn’t worry about it.

What I would worry about is what other companies will say your applying to.