Question About Pre-Employment Application

I am currently enrolled in a 8 week CDL class at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi. My graduation date is the first week of November.

My only issue is completing the application as far as my work history is concerned. I have no criminal or motor vehicle record , but the last 5 years of my employment is at best been sporadic. The last two years I have been in a transitional Veterans living program and have only been offered temporary short term employment. Before that I had been taking care of my elderly incapacitated Father for the previous 8 years until he passed away. During that time, I was only able to take on part-time work.

Based on this information, is my career as a truck driver futile? I have read several articles on this web site and feel as though I would become a great asset to any organization if given the chance to prove myself as a driver. I have no family commitments any longer and would like to stay out on the road as much as possible.

Can anyone give me any words of wisdom or like I stated earlier, is this going to be futile and look for another career to pursue?

Any help or information provided would be greatly appreciated.

The DOT regulations require Trucking companies to have a minimum of 3 years work history and up and an additional 7 if there's driving history beyond 3 years. If they don't have proper employment history, they get violations on DOT audits and it seems like each DOT auditor sort of has his or her own take on the regulation interpretation. For that reason most companies just go with a 10 year history on all drivers, that way they can't go wrong in an audit. Employment history also means not employed history. It has been my experience with student companies they are less concerned about not having worked than they are about not being able to stich together a nice neat accounting of what you've been doing for the last 10 years. I mean you were not able to work and when you did it was not so good temp jobs. That's why you went to school right? To get a CDL and be able to get a good job. As long as you weren't fired from a job for dishonesty or drugs, that sort of thing and you have a clean criminal record and good driving record and you can put together a 10 year timeline of what you were doing so they don't get hit with a DOT violation during an audit for not having obtained a full employment (including periods of unemployment) history, I don't think you'll have much trouble. Best of Luck!

Stan,

Very good words of wisdom...much appreciated.

MegaDallas, Welcome to the forum! From a fellow Texan.

Stan is right, what you really need to do is have a nice neat time line put together that shows what you were doing during each time period. What they don't want to see is gaps where you don't know what you were doing. If you have time periods of unemployment or taking care of loved ones, etc. just state that and then put together a supporting document such as a letter or two from someone who knows you and can vouch for you stating that they know you were taking care of your Father or that you were unemployed and seeking employment. Then have the letter notarized, and you should not have any problems with that. Any type of supporting document or evidence is always helpful in this situation.

Feel free to jump in here with any and all questions that may arise during your time at school or during your job search, we'll do our best to be helpful.

It's all about YOU! Your employment history matters only to a certain point. I have to agree with Stan. Right now what they want are bodies in their trucks. If you have no criminal or driving history that would be questionable, you have nothing to worry about.

It really doesn't matter if you worked. What they want is a history of your actions. They want to know where you have been. You put down what you can for the past 10 years if that is what they ask for. The fact that you are coming out of a school is a plus as well, (Community College). You should be getting a Certificate for that. People don't believe it when I say it, but that Certificate holds a great deal of weight.

Be honest on your application and sign it with confidence. You will be working very soon. Good Luck and keep us posted.

My sympathy for the passing of your Father. God Bless.

The VA will gladly give you a chronological timeline for when you were with them...that will do alot for you. And as the others said, letters from those that know you will work to. There is a company out there that will take a chance on you, and be glad they did... So now...get on with the High Road Training Program...cuz it will get you ahead of everyone else in school...and thats EXACTLY where you want to be.

Now go out there and start your adventure....