Retired Needs Advice On Becoming A Truck Driver

After having read many messages on this and other boards I still am uncertain how to overcome the lack of an employment record. You see I have been retired for fifteen years. During this time I have seen my SS decrease to a point where I need to supplement it with a steady income. So after researching many careers I found that my need to earn more money and my desire to travel could be meet by my becoming a truck driver. During the last fifteen years I have been supporting myself while working with the homeless in various states. This work has left me without any work history, so how can I obtain a pre-hire letter to give to those who will pay for my truck driving training. I meet all the other requirements for driving, such as a clean driving record, no criminal record, good health and most important of all the ability to remain on the road without having to return home to a family: that is because I have none. I realize that for the first year of employment as a trucker my income will be between 21,000 and $24,000: For me this is plenty! After driving 100k miles I expect this pay to rise to around 27,000. So, how does an ex street ministry become a truck driver?

You were retired right? Didn't you have to file paperwork to receive your retirement benefits from the government? Should be a record of that. Affidavits can also help cover that time period. Once you find outwhich company you would like to drive for cal them up and ask them what is acceptable proof they accept for the retirement phase of your life. I dn't think it will be that big of a deal. Just have to have a little more paperwork to get the job done.

Welcome aboard James!

If there is any way to show you've been travelling and helping the homeless, that would be incredibly helpful. To tell someone you've been retired for 15 years and now you want to work again isn't exactly going to draw companies knocking down your door with opportunities. They'll figure, "This guy hasn't done anything in a decade and a half. Two weeks on the road with all the stress, tight schedules, and travelling is going to send him packing."

But if you can show them you've been active, that's quite a bit different. Maybe you were retired from your last career, but your "latest career" involved a lot of hard work and travel. That's going to help quite a bit.

Guyjax is right - every company will have its own ways that you can prove where you've been or what you've been doing so ask when you speak to some recruiters. If you can't show any proof of travelling and working with the homeless then you'll simply have to say you were retired. But it might take some digging to find some opportunities. You'll find em. But they may not come fast and easy.

Your first year in trucking you should be able to make more like $32k-$35k.

Welcome, James...and thank you for ministering to the less fortunate. I think that you will do well in trucking. We need alot of selfless respectable drivers out there....most of the old White Knights have retired. Your SS paperwork will do as far as telling anyone how you got a roof over your head, and food, without selling drugs, or being a hit man. If you worked within ministries in any city or area, maybe they could write you a letter of recommendation. Those always look nice in an application. You can scan and email them (be sure and keep the originals tho). So good luck, and keep us updated on how your search is going...