I Need Real Advice Here.

As Turtle also mentioned

"because you'll likely never drive a truck unless some mom-and-pop operation picks you up. I don't know the odds on that" I would agree with him. Schneider, Swift, Knight, Prime, companies that take care of their drivers, have Competitive pay. It's certainly going to take time to get on with any of these companies after having anything drug related on record.

Had I thought I would pee dirty, I wouldn’t have agreed to a second test. Yes, I did ask about the suboxone and was told, on this forum, that I needed to get past that before I jumped into this field. I did that. I got off the medication and do not doubt that all of you, and that company, see people trying to cheat on drug tests regularly, I have taken complete ownership of the mistakes I’ve made in my life. I take my career and life seriously. I’m sorry if I have said anything to offend any of you, that was never my intent. I have had a couple companies say that they are willing to give me a second chance, and say that these things happen regularly. Again, Im not ignorant that 99% of the time the person is guilty as sin. Thank you for your help.

The other issue is your 4 year old felony. And the way you posted it, im not sure if the conviction was 4 years old or the end of release/sentence? If it was in fact a drug related charge, you are going to have big issues.

PTLs normal policy is no felonies within the last 5 years. They gave you a break by inviting you. Now you have a bad drug test on your record.

To me it sounds as if you will need to go to a SAP program, and then go to a company willing to accept both the failed drug test and the felony. By that time, your felony might be over 5 years and less of an issue, but your 160 hr certificate will be worth much less. this means you might have to go through school all over again.

I hope you are able to straighten things out. get clean and stay clean. if you are still struggling with addiction, changing careers and getting married to team might be a bad idea.

I wish you would have discussed these issues with is more thoroughly than coffee pots.

good luck

As Turtle also mentioned

"because you'll likely never drive a truck unless some mom-and-pop operation picks you up. I don't know the odds on that" I would agree with him. Schneider, Swift, Knight, Prime, companies that take care of their drivers, have Competitive pay. It's certainly going to take time to get on with any of these companies after having anything drug related on record.

I agree with you, and turtle. I only threw those names out there, as an example of companies that some people say are the worst of the worst. But we know better. I was only addressing the term, reputable. A mom n pop 50 truck company isn't any less reputable than Swift, or other Mega Carrier.

As to what Rainy said... Agree 100%

Chris, you will find a lot of support here, but as you have found out, we will call out any perceived BS.

I hope it all works out for you. Prove to yourself that you can do it, despite your past mistakes, and the obstacles you face.

An example of a company I would not consider reputable would be the following. I talked with someone who. Works for a company here in Chicago hauling containers called sprinter trucking or something that's written with a sharpie on the door with the dot number of a 1999 Freightliner Century, no working a/c, no benefits, paid only in cash no elogs. That is a company I would say cdl graduates are lining up at the door to work at. Rainy outlined what it is going to take to ever work for a company worth a damn again. And it is going to take time.

I have taken enough urine tests to know that the little black strip on the bottom is the one that records the temperature of the urine. I have never ever had one that was a cold sample. I have had more of them than I can count on hands and toes. I am a former addict and 3 time convicted felon. However I came out of the depths of hell alive and have had a good run in the trucking industry. I will say this, you cannot BS a BS’R you are only fooling yourself. How come you didn’t say anything at that moment and give another U/A? If I was as adamant as you are on here, you really should have been that adamant then at that moment and subjected yourself to another U/A. Those temp gauges or the thermometer the nurse used was probably pretty accurate.

I hope for the sake of everyone out on the road that you never get behind the wheel of a semi when you have that crap in your system. To many holes in the story and past posts leads us to believe differently about what you are saying and how it all went down. I am very glad that companies and clinics are getting better at detecting this kind of stuff.

Just be glad it happened the way it did, and not after a major catastrophe. You saved yourself some serious headaches

An example of a company I would not consider reputable would be the following. I talked with someone who. Works for a company here in Chicago hauling containers called sprinter trucking or something that's written with a sharpie on the door with the dot number of a 1999 Freightliner Century, no working a/c, no benefits, paid only in cash no elogs. That is a company I would say cdl graduates are lining up at the door to work at. Rainy outlined what it is going to take to ever work for a company worth a damn again. And it is going to take time.

There are many reputable companies that run Sprinter vans. Panther, and UPS are the two biggest, I think.

The Sharpie trucks... I will agree with that one. Although, the term, company is being generous, considering most are o/o who are in over their heads, or people suckered into running as 1099. I see most of them at ports, running Intermodal containers.

Not UPS, but FedEx.

Ok, number one : I know of about 25 people working for big companies, some smaller, the get a prescription for suboxone every month. A few of my friends just went through their DOT drug tests while taking their suboxone and nothing ever came up. Why? Go read for yourself what the DOT tests for. It’s a 7 panel test. Suboxone has to be tested for specificly. Now that that’s out of the way, I don’t take it anymore. I quit July 3, the day I got my CDL because I didn’t want to be on the road taking meds like that. I do not want to be putting lives at risk. So there was nothing to hide. I’m currently looking for a LabCorp or equivalent here close to home to ha e a hair follicle test done for the last 4-6 months. More than enough to cover my refusal.

Secondly, my original story probably did sound sketchy because I was panicking. I gave up my job, my home and spent all the money I had to go through CDL school. I had plans on trying to start my own small company in a few years. I don’t have children yet, but when I do I want to be sure they never want for anything because I grew up with nothing. So, when you give up everything to chase a dream and then your put in a place like I was, the only thing you’re thinking is “I’m jobless, homeless and all this was for nothing”. It’s a terrifying experience. As far as a second U/A, I agreed to it, they wouldn’t allow it. I asked and they refused. Which, according to DOT regulations, they are allowed to do. I’ve done my homework for the last two weeks and uncovered a lot. I’ve talked with several smaller companies and other drivers and from what I can gather, things like this happen more often than you would think.

With that being said, regardless of what you think, unless you were there you don’t know what happened. I can tell you that I almost gave up, but that’s not my character. Should anyone have any helpful tips or ideas I am open to hearing. If all you want to do is belittle me, save it. I understand that they’re are plenty of guys out there that are trying to beat the system but I’m not one. I quit the medication to follow a dream and I’ll be dammed if anything will stop me. Yes, I’ve made some bad decisions in my life, those are mine to live with. My plan is to provide jobs for people coming out of prisons and rehabs l, because believe it or not, they are people too. There’s already a company in Ohio that has a CDL school in a prison and are hiring inmates as soon as they make parole. The world is changing quickly.

I know of about 25 people working for big companies, some smaller, the get a prescription for suboxone every month

Really? You know 25 people on that particular medication that are truck drivers? Yeah, ok!

It's obvious you think we're all new to this world. Not one of us here even remotely considers the possibility that you're telling us the whole truth about everything. We don't have any tips or ideas for you other than to stay clean and do things the right way. It's as simple as that.

And don't waste your time anymore trying to convince us of anything. It makes no difference if we believe you or not. We're not in charge of anything. We're just a bunch of drivers helping each other out.