Returning To Trucking After 11 Years
Topic 13712 | Page 1
Did you keep your CDL - of downgrade it?
After being off the road that many years - you are going to AT THE LEAST, have to do a fresher.
Though most companies are likely going to require you just go the "new entrant" route, and do the full training course, as if you never drove at all. This would be dictated by their insurers.
Your prior experience means you'll pick stuff up real quickly - but that long "out of the saddle" - the driving hasn't changed in 10 years, but a lot of the rules & regs have.
Since you're more than 10 years out - you probably won't have to declare your previous employers (DOT requires 10 years of history for people employed in driving, 3 years for those not), but you may want to pull a DAC from HireRight, just to make sure there's nothing negative on there to trip you up.
Out of curiosity - why did you leave the industry back then, and what made you interested in coming back?
Rick
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Welcome Bonehead 47...
Below are several links you may find helpful.
Click here for a summary review of the major and minor trucking companies: Trucking Company Reviews. This will provide you with information helpful in researching potential employers.
If you have interest in a company that is not on the list, type the company's name in the search bar (upper left hand corner of the panel) press enter and if there is archived information on that particular company, it will appear for your review.
Here are a few others of interest:
- Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
- Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"
Chances are like Rick said, the larger companies will likely want you to take a refresher course either through a school or through a company offering Company-Sponsored Training Programs.
HOS rules have also changed since you last drove professionally. This link will bring you up to speed:
If your CDL has expired (you haven't specified that), you will need to obtain a class A permit form your home state and at some point get a medical exam from a DOT certified medical examiner. Let us know if you have any additional questions. Good luck and if you have the time and inclination, please keep us posted on your progress. Safe travels.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Logbook:
A written or electronic record of a driver's duty status which must be maintained at all times. The driver records the amount of time spent driving, on-duty not driving, in the sleeper berth, or off duty. The enforcement of the Hours Of Service Rules (HOS) are based upon the entries put in a driver's logbook.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
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Whats the best way to get back in trucking after being out of it for 11 years