Getting Hired With A Ticket And Misdemeanor

I have been applying to trucking companies after getting my class A CDL license. I have a misdemeanor (obstruction to justice) and one speeding ticket on my record (71 in a 55). I’ve only gotten one speeding ticket in my entire life. I’m a U.S Army Infantry combat veteran and I have been in the army for the past 7 years. I’m getting honorably discharged from the military as an E-5 (sergeant). To save y’all the trouble of asking my obstruction to justice charge was because my wife and I were both drunk and we got into an argument and I pushed her, after that the police showed up and I resisted arrest by jumping out of a window. I’m not proud of this by any means and I know I messed up and I have to live with that for the rest of my life, there’s not a day that goes by that I regret my decision. The assault charge was dropped in court and I was just charged with obstruction to justice. I’ve gotten tons of counseling and I’ve been sober for 8 months since the incident. I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting a job starting out in this industry, and I don’t want to be a “statistic” of veterans who get out of the military and have a terrible life/ be homeless. Do any of y’all know of anting trucking companies that will hire me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Sean, you're probably not aware of this, but I'm fairly certain that ticket is hurting you more than your misdemeanor charge.

Everyone will consider that ticket as "reckless driving." It's fifteen mph over the limit. That's a real disqualifier.

It's pretty obvious you went through a private school to get your CDL. They don't mind taking your money and then letting you find out you can't get a job. How old is the ticket? Give us that information and maybe we can help.

For everyone else... this is one of the many reasons we advocate the Paid CDL Training Programs. Things that will hinder your ability to land a job are dealt with up front.

Old School is correct.. its that speeding ticket that hurts you. Many companies will only accept no more then 3 minor speeding tickets and 1 or zero chargeable accidents within the past 10 years. Any ticket 10mph and over can be a automatic disqualified depending on the company. And speeding in a construction zone is equally bad. They show a pattern of unsafe actions and those make the companies insurance costs go thru the roof. There are second chance companies like Western Express. Call them and be totally upfront with them.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you stationed? I know in Georgia they have a program where military vets that are in the process of ETS'ing they can get a wavier on the CDL-A road and skills tests with unit comander's signoff if they operated similar equipment. They just need to take the Pretrip and general knowledge portions.

I have a good friend did that a few years ago.. He retired from Ft. Stewart GA. He learned the pretrip watching you-tube videos and the general knowledge from the state handbook. He tried for months and could not get hired either, he called me and I advised him to look up local technical college that had CDL course and talk to them. He was able to use his GI Bill and get trained on what he missed and was able to get a job with TMC as a student. His diploma from an accredited school helped him.

Sean, you're probably not aware of this, but I'm fairly certain that ticket is hurting you more than your misdemeanor charge.

Everyone will consider that ticket as "reckless driving." It's fifteen mph over the limit. That's a real disqualifier.

It's pretty obvious you went through a private school to get your CDL. They don't mind taking your money and then letting you find out you can't get a job. How old is the ticket? Give us that information and maybe we can help.

For everyone else... this is one of the many reasons we advocate the Paid CDL Training Programs. Things that will hinder your ability to land a job are dealt with up front.

My speeding ticket was almost exactly a year ago. I got it on July 17th 2018.

Editor's Note: Bird-one is not correct. 15 mph is considered reckless driving

To be honest Old School im pretty sure 25 mph and over is reckless. 15 is a hefty fine and points. I had one on my record when I applied for Schneider. But it was also over 2 yrs old so maybe that's why. How old is the ticket and misdemeanor Sean? And having that honorable discharge helps. I think somebody will hire you.

The ticket will be a year old on July 17th 2018.

As advised above, that ticket is going to be a major detractor for potential employers, but not a career ender.

Keep churning out applications and see what offers you receive.

Old School is correct.. its that speeding ticket that hurts you. Many companies will only accept no more then 3 minor speeding tickets and 1 or zero chargeable accidents within the past 10 years. Any ticket 10mph and over can be a automatic disqualified depending on the company. And speeding in a construction zone is equally bad. They show a pattern of unsafe actions and those make the companies insurance costs go thru the roof. There are second chance companies like Western Express. Call them and be totally upfront with them.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you stationed? I know in Georgia they have a program where military vets that are in the process of ETS'ing they can get a wavier on the CDL-A road and skills tests with unit comander's signoff if they operated similar equipment. They just need to take the Pretrip and general knowledge portions.

I have a good friend did that a few years ago.. He retired from Ft. Stewart GA. He learned the pretrip watching you-tube videos and the general knowledge from the state handbook. He tried for months and could not get hired either, he called me and I advised him to look up local technical college that had CDL course and talk to them. He was able to use his GI Bill and get trained on what he missed and was able to get a job with TMC as a student. His diploma from an accredited school helped him.

I was at Ft. Stewart, and Ft. Drum. I could of just used the wavier and gotten my class A, but I’m a hands on learner and I wanted to go to school so I could be the most proficient driver, also I didn’t work with any trucks in the service accept for up armored humvees and MRAPs. Thanks for your advice

To be honest Old School im pretty sure 25 mph and over is reckless. 15 is a hefty fine and points. I had one on my record when I applied for Schneider. But it was also over 2 yrs old so maybe that's why. How old is the ticket and misdemeanor Sean? And having that honorable discharge helps. I think somebody will hire you.

The ticket is 11 months old (about to be one year in a couple weeks) and the misdemeanor is 8 months. And y’all are right a lot of the companies don’t care about the misdemeanor, but the speeding ticket is screwing me. I don’t mind doing the grunt work and earning my time in the trucking industry starting out. It’s just very hard to get started. I’m completely aware this is the consequence of my actions. I just want to be able to prove myself and bust my ass working

As previous posters have elaborated - the 15+ over ticket is what's going to screw you as a starter CMV driver.

You might fare better when it's a year old - but likely 3 years is the elapsed time most companies are going to look for.

Yet another example of why you FIGHT EVERY TICKET - you can't try and beat the ticket, if you don't try and FIGHT IT.

Rick