Comments By Luke O.

If you have your CDL already they have to do 10 years if you are going there to obtain your CDL it's only 3 years.

thanks. so since I dont have my CDL already, when I fill out the paper application at orientation, do I just continue to list my last 3 years or do I go ahead and need to list the full 10 years?

So Im right on the list of heading to orientation for Prime, should be leaving on the 25th. But Ive been doing a lot of research of course, and I started wondering. On my prime application I filled out online, I put in my 3 year work history. I have more, but after I added my 2nd to last job, their website said I had filled the requirements for work history. So I left it at that.

I know they require a 10 year work history, and I was wondering, when I get to orientation and fill out the paper application, I was going to put my full work history down. But now I wonder if this is going to be an issue. Not because of a spotty work history, but because are they going to have to verify all of that **** too? and will it delay the process?

Im in the recruiting phase still. Last night my wife and I were looking over my paperwork, application etc, and she suddenly says to me why didnt you put down the drug test from home depot? I said wtf are you talking about? 5 minutes go by and its then that I realized oh ****, yea I failed a pre employment drug test almost 7 years ago. Ive been clean since then and am proud of that fact so Ive buried my past cuz well, its in the past. But shes right, I forgot to mention that on my application and hipaa form because that **** was so long ago and thats not who I am anymore. Like I havent even thought about that **** for a long damn time. Not trying to "pull one over" on people. Im not one of those kinds of people. Ive seen enough of that kind of crap here on TT. And if i tested today, or any day i will pass with flying colors..

So should I go ahead and mention it for honesty reasons or will it screw me out of a job? It was for a non-DOT position as a forklift driver. I had went in to an interview, they offered me the job, but I didnt fill out any kind of new hire paperwork or go to orientation. That was all contigent on me passing the drug test. Which I didnt. It was shortly after that I gave up that lifestyle and forgot all about it as time went on. I know how important honesty is in this process and Im worried I made an unfortunate mistake and am seeking advice on how to proceed.

Also my recruiter knows that Ive mentioned chest pain related to pluerisy, but Ive never been officially diagnosed with it. I simply had a doctor at a hospital once tell me I had it but It wasnt listed on my discharge papers I dont believe (was also a long damn time ago). So I didnt list it as a medical condition on hipaa because as far as I remember I dont have any official paperwork about it. It also rarely affects me, maybe a few times a year max.

Anyways, I don't want to get in to far over my head and end up getting booted from silly mistakes. What should I do?

About 10 years ago my lungs collapsed. As a result they are no scarred internally and I have chronic pleurisy. The pleurisy comes and goes. sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, sometimes I might go as long as 6 months without experiencing the pain. And the pain, is generally nothing serious.

Generally just a minor sharp pain when I breathe for a moment or two, and its as simple as pressing on my lungs for a second to relieve the pain and correct the issue. Once in a blue moon, maybe once or twice a year the pain is severe enough I have to more or less totally stop what Im doing. In the last 5 years thats happened maybe 3 times. But generally speaking the pain is minor and nothing more then an annoyance. Hell most days I forget I even have pleurisy.

If you don't mind working the dock and getting paid for a short time Old Dominion may have a a paid CDL program in your area.

We have a program here like that with XPO, but they told me I was under qualified..

You do realize we had a holiday last week right? and they probably dont work on weekends. so you applied wednesday which probably didnt get assigned a recruiter until thursday or friday and the background check wouldnt be done. But here it is saturday and you are complaining?

I dont know.why you assume mega carriers arent picky. Prime is one of the more selective companies and we often see posts of rejection here, usually for work history or medical issues.

Call them monday or tues. But dont rest your hopes on one company. You might get an offer from a company you never considered and find it is awesome.

Oh i guess thats true (holidays dont exist for me at my current job so I tend to forget the minor holidays).

Anyways Im used to the mega's calling me within 10 minutes of putting in an application. Prime has been the only company willing so far to work with me at this point....

Everyone else Ive called has been a flat out NO shortly after speaking to the recruiter. The thing is theres only what,...like 15 companies with cdl training? of those a handful hire texas residents only, and the other handful are limited to another area, or their cdl tuition programs are wonky as heck. Prime seems so far, aside from the fact they are willing to work with me, they seem so far to be the only ones listed on TT that have a thorough training program, the kind of pay im looking for/need, and the overall generally favorable reviews both here on TT and elsewhere.

Its not that Im resting my hopes on one company, its that of the ones with cdl training, they are the only ones to have said yes so far to prehire. I know a prehire doesnt mean much really, but its better then being told No to a prehire.

local cdl school is out of the question for me, hence im stuck with choosing from the megas. If there are other companies that have cdl school, is there a list somewhere I can look and see bc TT only has 15 or so listed.

Yea i dont think Veriha is interested in me. I applied to them back on wednesday and havent heard from them. I assume this is because they are not really a mega, so they are pickier. If we go by just the last 3 years, my work history and mvr are fine But if you go back past 3 years i have a terrible work history and my mvr is still mostly fine but there are a few citations.

I pulled up the indeed file for the recruiter and it says they cold call possible recruits, and I havent gotten any of that, so I just as quickly assume they arent interested in me. The same thing happened to me with Maverick.

Ya'll are probably right, Im over analyzing and over thinking the **** out of everything. Theres just so much conflicting information out there. Its a pure information overload type thing. I just want to make sure I make the right decision as much as possible. Im only human.

And Im the kind of person who likes to go into something with a plan A, plan B, plan C, and plan D. I want to be in control of my destiny as much as possible. Sorry I snapped. Theres a lot of **** on my mind lately, and someone telling me to "not research"....it rubbed me the wrong way.

So instead of reading 500 reviews from random John Doe's on the Internet, why not approach it from a common sense perspective?

The companies you're considering are all the elite in this nation. They're the largest, most profitable, most successful companies out there that have proven themselves to be the best of the best for decades.

Knowing that, what do you expect to dig up on these companies? Do you think they might have a secret setup with the Feds where they're brainwashing and enslaving drivers? Do you think the fact that they have a long list of awards and a fleet of $120,000 tractors blanketing the nation serving the full spectrum of Fortune 500 corporations is a coverup for a failing operation whose secret agenda is to let you sit in a truck stop and bleed your bank account dry?

Doesn't it seem rather apparent that you're going to be given every opportunity imaginable to succeed at a place like that? Because it always seemed pretty apparent to me.

Like Old School said, you can spend your time anyway you like. Personally, I know better than to listen to anyone who points fingers and places blame for their failures. You said:

I know that alot of ppl in trucking bash on companies when in reality it was there fault, but reviews are still reviews. Not everyone is like that. Not everyone who has had a bad experience is entirely their fault. Sometimes **** is outside of your control.

Bullsh*t. Don't tell me people are failing in trucking for reasons beyond their control. If you think that's the case then give me one example of a situation where someone who was perfect willing and able to be a Top Tier Driver failed at trucking and it wasn't their fault. Give me a hypothetical situation where that might happen.

Personally I don't go for any of that baloney at all. I don't believe in playing the blame game or the "poor me" card. The problem in trucking for some people is that there's no faking it. You're simply not going to survive out there for long if you're not capable of putting in a ton of hard work, thinking independently, being consistently safe, and making smart decisions. If you're a knucklehead it's going to show in your performance in a hurry. If you're capable of doing this job it'll show in your performance in a hurry.

You either get out there and figure out how to survive in this industry or you fail. Several of our Moderators had a living nightmare for a trainer and they still made it through the training just fine and went on to be superstar drivers.

It doesn't matter which of the major carriers you work for. There's no such thing as a major carrier that you should avoid. You should definitely try to pick the one that suits your preferences well for home time and the type of freight you want to haul, but beyond that you're just wasting your time listening to people cry on YouTube or blame their companies for their failures in the other forums.

If you want to succeed at this then the best thing you can do is listen to this:

Podcast Episode 18: Stop The Fear And Doubt, Focus On Your Own Success

I dont know a whole lot about trucking just yet because I havent been out there yet, and I do respect the veteran drivers, but there are some situations out there, beyond your control, where **** can go wrong. Such as Idk, a tire blew out, they were late, and their dispatch got mad, customer got mad etc. A few months down the road, for some reason tire blows out again. Why? who knows, maybe they hit an unseen road hazard. Maybe its a newbie, guy has had 2 simple unlucky scenarios that caused them to be late. **** happens. Maybe that dispatch is having a bad day, maybe someone is breathing down their neck, and they tell the guy to take better care of his tires, or get lost idk. All i know is **** happens.

I dont give a flying **** if youre trucking or bagging groceries, **** happens in every job, and just because youve never had it happen to you, doesnt mean it doesnt happen. But idk you, or what youve been through. I have nothing wrong with owning up to mistakes, etc, making critical decisions etc, but reviews exist for a reason. Not every ****ing negative review is the drivers fault. Is it the norm? certainly, but not 110%. Just the same as not every news story is "fake news".

Ive read countless articles here, as well as other sites. I get it, no one likes a super trucker, and everyone needs to own their own actions, but Im sorry, you are blowing smoke if you truly think anyone and everyone has never been fired for something outside their control. I came to TT looking for answers, and while Ive gotten it, the whole "im a righteous trucker i dont take no bs" vibe I get from some of the folks here, is just as bad as the "im a super trucker vibe" ive gotten from other folks. You want to help people? help em,but for god sake, the bs runs rampant here too

Luke, stop reading the ratings!

It drives us crazy that people keep reading random reviews from random people about these companies. The trucking industry gets a ton of people who take a shot at it but have no business doing so. They either don't have what it takes or aren't willing to do what it takes to thrive in this industry, but they're also unwilling to shoulder the blame for their lack of success so they try to make it look like it was the company that was the problem.

Are you aware of the fact that Veriha was one of the companies awarded "Best Companies To Drive For 2018" - Best Fleets To Drive For 2018

The reason their tuition and commitment is longer is because they're looking for more dedicated people. They're trying to build their in-house training program slowly by being more selective with their students. But If you stay for the 18 month commitment your training will be free. You only have to pay the tuition if you quit the company early and fail to fulfill your end of the bargain.

Here is their pay information:

Company drivers are paid $.35/mile for Regional, $.36/mile for OTR with a guaranteed pay of $800 per week.

If your set schedule starts on a Friday or Saturday you'll earn an additional $.03/mile.

You'll get accessorial pay of $.02/miles on loads less than 400 miles.

You'll also get $.03/mile Congestion Pay on loads less than 400 miles that deliver to a customer in the Northeast and the Chicago area.

They offer a quarterly bonus of up to .03 CPM that is based on miles ran and other key performance indicators rather than just fuel consumption.

You can read more about the company here:

Veriha Trucking Paid CDL Training

Veriha doesn't pay $800/week, they guarantee a minimum of $800/week. If you hustle and work hard you'll make considerably more than that.

So think about this, Luke. Veriha was established in 1978 by John Veriha as a one truck operation. They have grown successfully over the past 40 years and now have several hundred trucks and were awarded as one of the best companies to drive for in the nation this year.

Have you applied to these companies and been accepted already? If not, don't waste your time doing research and Apply For Paid CDL Training. Then see who offers you a position and start talking to their recruiters.

Yes I have applied for Paid cdl training using the TT link you listed here, I did that about 3 weeks ago. The only companies who called me were CRST, Roehl, TMC, and Prime. CRST & Roehl said no because I have a rear end accident from spring of 2018, even tho it was a no citation no report accident, it was technically still my fault and I must wait 3 years before theyll consider me again. TMC I havent spoken with yet. Prime I have, and at the moment, from doing my research, it seems Prime, maybe Knight, maybe CRE, and maybe Veriha or TMC would be possible.

My problem is my bills. I cant not do research, I have a family to take care of. I have to know how long I will be going without pay, so I can attempt to plan accordingly. Old School I think it was told me with Prime to bring or have 4-5 weeks of money set aside to cover bills at home before you get paid, and a flatbedder with Prime on another website told me that the 200$ advance they give you on the comdat card, there is no way to call and pay bills with it. This is a major obstacle for me. I was interested in Veriha because according to TT, >>> they pay 600$ a week from day 1. <<<

I HAVE looked at the page you linked, but the info outside of TT is scarce, hence why I asked here. I can not afford to just quit my job and leave for CDL training unless i know exactly what im getting into, what the cons and pros are, what is expected of me, what the pay is like etc. I have to do research. I know that alot of ppl in trucking bash on companies when in reality it was there fault, but reviews are still reviews. Not everyone is like that. Not everyone who has had a bad experience is entirely their fault. Sometimes **** is outside of your control. Its like that with any industry. Im not going to just use TT as my only form of research, Im going to call the company, look at other reviews, google stuff etc, I have to do my research. I can not just take a gamble based off what one website alone says. Keep in mind I also take everything with a grain of salt and know that my own success is for the most part based off how well I apply myself.