Comments By Harvest

It is definitely a ****ty situation, right before I was rear-ended in my personal vehicle and injured. I was going through the hiring process for a tanker job with $1200 a week guaranteed pay. They did my drug test, background checks, and everything, and wanted to know when I could start. Then the accident happened, worked from home, didn't self-certify from ignorance, and now starting from scratch.

But it is true, as my family said, what is in the past is in the past. Can only keep moving forward and not dwell on mistakes, can only learn from them.

I made a post previously, that due to ignorance about self-certifying and my medcard, I lost my CDL. After thinking long and hard, looking at other trades, and thinking about my future. I decided I want to drive again, as some of you know, I had a rocky start in my trucking career, due to immaturity. Nothing major, just not the best work ethic.... The two choices I have now, are going to a mega to get my CDL and sign a contract with them. Looking at a company like SWIFT. Or there is a local CDL school, they have a 5 week basic course 5 days a week for 5000$, they also offer a loan at 11% interest and you do not have to start paying for it until after training is over. Or they have a "advanced course" that is 18 weeks, and claims to go over things like general maintenance and in general more in-depth over those 18 weeks, and that is a weekend-only course.

My overall goal is to eventually get an hourly local job after I get more experience. The CDL school teaches in manual transmissions, which is the major reason I am considering it. I want to eventually in a few years do hazmat tanker. And I heard that a lot of tanker's are manual transmission because the surge does not work well with autos. And that a lot of smaller companies still use manuals. I just do not want to be limited in my career with automatic only. I am debating doing the 18 week course as well, so I can continue to work while training. When I first trained at Prime inc, I went in with practically no money at all. And it makes training really rough until you get paychecks coming in. Plus I have more bills now than I did at 21 years old. And then the other option is Swift, where I would get my cdl for free, and within that year or so contract, I will get the experience I need to do local. However, Swift does not have a tanker division. If I went this route, I would continue working where I am now, save up some money first before shipping out.

So if you guys were in my shoes, what would be the best option? Very disappointed in myself, if I would of just stuck to it at 21, I could be driving that local job I want right now. I grew up allot since then, and just want to provide a better future for myself. And one day hit my goal of local trucking. Does any company that trains for CDL have a tanker division?

Also wanted to show, this is what the "advanced cdl class" includes, which some of this stuff would be nice to get hands-on training with. Allot of this stuff, I already know from my solo driving experience. But it would also be nice to brush up on things. Technically all I need to get my CDL again is to do a pretrip and road test. I am also exempt from needing to do the ELDT course that new drivers must go through. But I could not find a school or anywhere that would let me pay for a instructor to come with me with a truck to do just testing.

I decided to start training to be a welder. I have orientation at the end of this month. I had to pull everything into account, as I do love driving. However, I do not want to be OTR and live in a truck again to obtain my CDL for free. Nor do I currently have the 5000$ to get my license from a private school. Welding was always a trade that fascinated me, so I am going that route, and can afford the training. I plan to get my CDL again someday, after doing some research, their are some very very well paying jobs that require welding with a CDL. Obviously these jobs require allot of experience. But I think this is the road I am going to go down. Trucking was a awesome experience with allot of lows, and highs. And memories I will have forever. I had to do allot of growing up, when I was 21, I was definitely not a mature man. I gained allot of valuable life lessons along the road. Everything happens for a reason, and I don't think it will be the last time I climb into a truck.

I am going to call Tuesday when they open, would not make a bit of sense if I have to go back to a school just because of a physical.

For some states it happens just that way because an expired CDL over a certain length leads to a downgraded license. Once downgraded, it's basically starting from scratch.

Well that's the thing, my cdl itself was not set to expire until next year. I still physically have my license and it is valid. I guess just in the system its a class D. Not sure, I am also curious because although the FMCSA site is a official government site. I went through as much as I possibly could on Delaware DMV site and the only wording I could find was "Downgrade". But it doesn't give much more detail than that.

Think of it like this:

A person must possess an unrestricted standard motor vehicle license, some states calling it a class D, before acquiring a CDL. (I am not sure if this is all states or not, so suffice to say "some.") Earning a CLP is the first step toward a CDL. The next step is ELDT. After that step is earning the CDL through the 3-part exam.

So, if a license is downgraded from a class A CDL to a class D non-CDL, why would it be surprising for the entities that govern acquiring licenses to require the person who has a license downgraded to class D start from the beginning? To put this in perspective, a license doesn't become downgraded without an extended amount of time with the CDL not being used or an activating event that requires the license to be downgraded. In either situation, it makes sense to have the license holder prove that he or she is competent to drive a commercial vehicle. If the driver wasn't thoughtful enough to maintain the license, then it's highly probably that said driver hasn't been thoughtful enough to keep driving skills as sharp as possible.

I could see if it was 5 years since someone drove, but not 1 year. Most states reinstate you once you get your physical.

I am going to call Tuesday when they open, would not make a bit of sense if I have to go back to a school just because of a physical.

For some states it happens just that way because an expired CDL over a certain length leads to a downgraded license. Once downgraded, it's basically starting from scratch.

Well that's the thing, my cdl itself was not set to expire until next year. I still physically have my license and it is valid. I guess just in the system its a class D. Not sure, I am also curious because although the FMCSA site is a official government site. I went through as much as I possibly could on Delaware DMV site and the only wording I could find was "Downgrade". But it doesn't give much more detail than that.

I’m sorry to hear of your injuries.

My suggestion? If you can go to one of the DE DMV offices. I believe you’ll get a straight answer. I’ve been to the one in a Georgetown. Not a bad experience..

Good luck.

Going to the Dover one this Tuesday, live in Dover so not a hike thankfully.

Also, wouldn't they want me to surrender my license if I was no longer valid? My physical license is still a CDL, and does not expire until next year. I made sure my license is still valid, but it doesn't tell me the license class on the DMV site.

Harvest I live in the state of Delaware.

My CDL was transferred from PA to DE back in March. As my medical card was within 60 days of expiration I received an official letter from Del. Dept of Transportation alerting me of the approaching expiration date, what to do, and what would happen if it expired. It was crystal clear. Same letter 30 days later…same info.

When my CDL was issued from PA I receive similar correspondence 60, 30, and 0 days.

Unless you were not receiving any mail, or you didn’t read the contents of these notifications, allowing your medical card to expire was a conscience decision.

Even if you are not driving you need to stay in compliance unless you intend not to drive commercial vehicles requiring a CDL. Otherwise consider the consequences before allowing the Med card to expire.

Good luck with this. Hope it all works out.

I do not remember ever receiving anything from the DMV. For part of the year I was living somewhere else. So there could of been a possibility it was sent to me while I lived somewhere else. Year was very hectic following my accident as I was badly hurt. I guess if I have to retrain, I could possibly turn it as a positive and train with a manual like I always wanted. I always knew you could not drive without a medcard. However I thought your license was only downgraded until you receive the medcard. I was under the impression you could not ever lose your CDL unless you committed serious traffic offenses and other severe violations. What sucks is that it is only 4 months past the 1 year expired date. And if I was given a 2 year medcard, I would of been fine. But at this point it is a lesson learned I guess. I can try to call the DMV and plead my case. Maybe there is a hail marry and something with COVID would save me, but who knows. I see on the FMSCA website, there was something about a grace period, but it expired in October. The "Extension And Amendment of the Modified Emergency Declaration".

I tried going to the MyDMV site and this is what I see with the self declaration. So it is not looking good..... I know it's my fault for not keeping it renewed or doing extensive research. It was just pure ignorance, just thought the "downgrade" was only a downgrade until you are valid. Apparently most states are like that, but Delaware is one of the few that makes you redo everything. Which honestly I do not see the logic in it. I could understand paying a substantial fine or something. But having to redo absoloutely everything seems rather harsh. Not having a valid medcard does not make me forget how to drive. I could be wrong, but people with DUI's keep their cdl but just get a big suspension right? But even they get to keep the cdl.

I am going to call Tuesday when they open, would not make a bit of sense if I have to go back to a school just because of a physical.

I thought it was a kinda fun tool to practice backing. At the end of the day, the simulator doesn't compare too much to the real thing. But it gives you a slight feel.