Can I Get A Cdl With Employment Gap?

I've been wanting to get into the trucking industry for a while now, however I'm concerned my employment history may be an issue.. I am currently working full time , and have been for the last year and a half, but prior to that I was unemployed for about 4 years.. Will this disqualify me from most paid cdl training programs, or is my recent work history enough to get me accepted

Hey Justin. I think you'll be fine. The fact that you are working now is huge with most companies. What they don't like to see is people who are out of work right now and have been for an extended period of time, say more than 90 - 180 days. They want to see people who are hustling and getting after it, people who do whatever they can to keep finding work.

Trucking requires a huge amount of ambition and you'll be putting in very long hours. If someone spends 6 months or more on the couch it's unlikely they're going to suddenly jump up and start thriving at one of the most demanding jobs there is. They really don't have much to go on when they're selecting candidates, but whether or not someone has been working recently seems to be an indicator of risk, at least to some companies.

Welcome! If you're worried it may be a concern Paid CDL Training Programs will definitely your best bet. To be honest it's the best way to enter the industry even if you dont have any concerns. When you get accepted into one of these programs you're guaranteed a job as long as you obtain your CDL. Typically. depending on the company, they require a 1 year contract where they will payroll deduct a certain amount each week, or they will not deduct from your check and the schooling is free after your 1 year contract is up. I dont think your unemployment would affect you with most carriers however there are more picky companies such as Prime, Wil-trans and Jim Palmer. We've seen many people turned down from them for various reasons, so if you apply there and are denied do not give up hope. You can Apply For Paid CDL Training with 1 application it will send it to numerous carriers. These are not the only companies that do training, there are also Swift, CFI and many others. Don't get too caught up on picking the right company right now, apply like crazy and then compare the offers you receive and choose the best one. Far too often people get their mind set on a company and come to find out the company isnt interested whether its background issues or just where they live.

Hopefully you stick around and keep us updated on your journey. If you're interested in reading how the schooling process goes, we have a ton of diaries in the Training diaries for most of the companies that offer training.

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.

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.

Wil-Trans:

Darrel Wilson bought his first tractor in 1980 at age 20, but, being too young to meet OTR age requirements, he leased the truck out and hired a driver.

Through growth and acquisition, Wil-Trans now employs over 200 drivers, and has a long-standing partnership with Prime, Inc. to haul their refrigerated freight. The family of businesses also includes Jim Palmer Trucking and O & S Trucking.

Definitely check with each company though, for example I saw Millis Transfer reply to a bad review on their Facebook page saying they require employment for the past three years (any job) with no more than a six-month gap.

I've been wanting to get into the trucking industry for a while now, however I'm concerned my employment history may be an issue.. I am currently working full time , and have been for the last year and a half, but prior to that I was unemployed for about 4 years.. Will this disqualify me from most paid cdl training programs, or is my recent work history enough to get me accepted

Definitely check with each company though

Yeah, for sure there will be some companies that turn you down, but that applies to everyone. People hear that there's a shortage of drivers so they tend to believe they can just hand-pick where they want to work from a long list of companies begging for their services. That is never the case. If you apply to a bunch of companies you may get a few who offer you an opportunity, but many will not. However, your gap in employment isn't going to stop you from getting your career started, assuming your driving and criminal record are solid.

I've been wanting to get into the trucking industry for a while now, however I'm concerned my employment history may be an issue.. I am currently working full time , and have been for the last year and a half, but prior to that I was unemployed for about 4 years.. Will this disqualify me from most paid cdl training programs, or is my recent work history enough to get me accepted

"Unemployed for 4 years" - doing what exactly (or briefly)?

What DHS is looking for (as part of the employment history) is that you weren't in some ISIS training camp in Syria. What companies are looking for is the similar, as well as STABILITY.

Federal Law requires 3 years of previous history for non-drivers - and 10 years for drivers. And requires this history to be VERIFIED (though the amount of effort companies expend to do so, is the subject of speculation).

So if your previous unemployment was somehow "documentable" (caring for a sick relative), which can be done by affidavits from verifiable sources, we've heard of people covering the gap that way.

If you were living under a bridge in Portland Oregon, doing windshields for beer money, that's going to be less verifiable.

EITHER WAY - apply EVERYWHERE. Having 1.5 years of current stable employment/residence - will go a long way with many companies.

Best of luck to you. PLEASE KEEP US UPDATED ON YOUR PROGRESS.

Rick

I've been wanting to get into the trucking industry for a while now, however I'm concerned my employment history may be an issue.. I am currently working full time , and have been for the last year and a half, but prior to that I was unemployed for about 4 years.. Will this disqualify me from most paid cdl training programs, or is my recent work history enough to get me accepted

I was laid off for about 11 months and FedEx didn't seem too concerned about hiring me. I did collect unemployment for the first time in my life during that period.

Oh, and if you're a Vet or a felon, companies actually have an incentive to hire you. Yeah, I love being grouped in with felons.

Thanks for the replies everyone.. I'm gonna start filling out some applications, and see what I come up with.. I'll send updates on my progress