Need Advice On Job Search - 63 Year Old

First post to this site. I'm a 63 year old with a CDL and no experience. 3 years out of driving school. Things came up and I couldn't pursue driving professionally right after school. At this point I would like a job driving a dedicated run. I don't know the right way to approach this or even if it is proper to try and go right into dedicated runs. I don't want to look foolish or step on toes if I need to pay my dues first by doing the OTR. I'm located in Billings MT area. Would appreciate any advice on how to job search with no experience other than driving local delivery truck that didn't require a CDL. I have a current CDL license and Medical Card. Thanks in advance...

Randy, I'll tell you first off that age is not a big factor in hiring new drivers. Bit it seems you got your CDL three years ago but didn't get a CDL type job, right? Important question: have you kept your medical card up to date? If not the state probably automatically "demoted" your license to a regular 4-wheeler license.

On the other hand, having a three year old CDL with no commercial driving experience meant you're at Square One anyway. Chances are really good that you have to start the whole CDL school over. But you'll have a leg up then because it'll all come back quickly. No toes stepped on.

We have the best job search tool you need:

Apply For Paid CDL Training

This link will send your application to a whole bunch of trucking companies with one click of your mouse. Stick around here. Ask questions. Read the forum topics. Keep us posted.

Randy, I'll tell you first off that age is not a big factor in hiring new drivers. Bit it seems you got your CDL three years ago but didn't get a CDL type job, right? Important question: have you kept your medical card up to date? If not the state probably automatically "demoted" your license to a regular 4-wheeler license.

On the other hand, having a three year old CDL with no commercial driving experience meant you're at Square One anyway. Chances are really good that you have to start the whole CDL school over. But you'll have a leg up then because it'll all come back quickly. No toes stepped on.

We have the best job search tool you need:

Apply For Paid CDL Training

This link will send your application to a whole bunch of trucking companies with one click of your mouse. Stick around here. Ask questions. Read the forum topics. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the reply Errol. My medical card and CDL is up to date. I was thinking if I went local with a dedicated route I would not need to redo school. I guess I will just pound the pavement and see if any local companies are willing to take me on. Thanks again...

I was thinking if I went local with a dedicated route I would not need to redo school. I guess I will just pound the pavement and see if any local companies are willing to take me on.

Hey Randy, we would really appreciate you keeping us informed on how this goes for you. Our experience tells us what you are trying to do is next to impossible. Local driving jobs are much more challenging for new drivers. They almost always require a few years experience. Their insurance underwriters typically refuse to cover inexperienced drivers.

We really stress the importance of getting some over the road experience first, but usually if you've sat on your license for more than six months or so it's considered stale. Most companies won't hire a driver with a stale license. Once again this is an insurance requirement.

Here's an article that might help you understand why we don't recommend starting with a local driving position.

Why You Should Not Start Your Driving Career As A Local Driver

I was thinking if I went local with a dedicated route I would not need to redo school. I guess I will just pound the pavement and see if any local companies are willing to take me on.

Hey Randy, we would really appreciate you keeping us informed on how this goes for you. Our experience tells us what you are trying to do is next to impossible. Local driving jobs are much more challenging for new drivers. They almost always require a few years experience. Their insurance underwriters typically refuse to cover inexperienced drivers.

We really stress the importance of getting some over the road experience first, but usually if you've sat on your license for more than six months or so it's considered stale. Most companies won't hire a driver with a stale license. Once again this is an insurance requirement.

Here's an article that might help you understand why we don't recommend starting with a local driving position.

Why You Should Not Start Your Driving Career As A Local Driver

Wow! What an eye opener.

Thanks for the link and advice Old School.

I spun off into so many other great links. I wish I had known about this site before I got started at the school.

Not sure what direction I'll go now but next time I run into someone looking at going into the trucking biz I will surely recommend they go to this site.

I was thinking I could drive local for a few years before retiring but realize now it just doesn't work that way.

I'll post a follow up when I figure out the plan. Who knows, maybe I'll end up with a passenger endorsement and driving screaming kids around!

Thanks again.

I found myself in a similiar situation 2 years ago. I had taken an early retirement package at 55 and decided to get my CDL. I went through paid CDL training with Millis Transfer and got my licence but did not end up staying with them and going solo.

So here I sat almost exactly 2 years ago with a bright and shiny cdl but no recent experience other than my time spent with a trainer. I wanted to drive but was leery of going full OTR. I had also been following TT ever since I started my CDL journey so I was well aware of many hurdles ahead.

What I ended up doing was to put together a very brief "trucker resume" with the following intro:

"Truck driving is a second career for me. I worked my way through college driving dump trucks and always enjoyed driving. After taking an early retirement package I used the opportunity to enroll in CDL school with Millis Transfer. I completed the OTR course and was almost done with the required driving when I realized that being on the road for 3-4 weeks at a time was not a good fit for me."

I then setup an account on Indeed.com and posted the resume as Public. People could not see my personal info unless I applied or responded to an ad. I was quickly hit with dozens of responses. Many of them were automated replies from national companies or jobs that I was not interested in but there were a few "gems" in there. Within days I had narrowed it down to 2 local companies that would work with my experience and that I thought offered a good chance of success.

The job I accepted was with a small company located 10 min from my house. They have about 10 day cabs and around 20 box trucks and they do truck load, LTL , warehousing and plant transfers around the Cincinnati area. They had me do a road test and then for several days had their safety driver ride with me. After that they put me on a contract of their's where several hundred loads of freight needed to be moved from one location back to our facility. These were 60 mile round trips and several drivers were running it at once so their was always someone close if I needed anything. Did 3 of those trips a day for several weeks then they turned me loose to run everything else.

Key thing for me was that this was a local "trucking company". I was bumping docks and doing drop and hooks just like OTR but my trips were very short. I had every intention of staying with them for a year but after about 3 months I updated the indeed resume and was contacted by RYDER with an offer I couldn't refuse for my current position, will be there 2 years in April.

I found myself in a similiar situation 2 years ago. I had taken an early retirement package at 55 and decided to get my CDL. I went through paid CDL training with Millis Transfer and got my licence but did not end up staying with them and going solo.

So here I sat almost exactly 2 years ago with a bright and shiny cdl but no recent experience other than my time spent with a trainer. I wanted to drive but was leery of going full OTR. I had also been following TT ever since I started my CDL journey so I was well aware of many hurdles ahead.

What I ended up doing was to put together a very brief "trucker resume" with the following intro:

"Truck driving is a second career for me. I worked my way through college driving dump trucks and always enjoyed driving. After taking an early retirement package I used the opportunity to enroll in CDL school with Millis Transfer. I completed the OTR course and was almost done with the required driving when I realized that being on the road for 3-4 weeks at a time was not a good fit for me."

I then setup an account on Indeed.com and posted the resume as Public. People could not see my personal info unless I applied or responded to an ad. I was quickly hit with dozens of responses. Many of them were automated replies from national companies or jobs that I was not interested in but there were a few "gems" in there. Within days I had narrowed it down to 2 local companies that would work with my experience and that I thought offered a good chance of success.

The job I accepted was with a small company located 10 min from my house. They have about 10 day cabs and around 20 box trucks and they do truck load, LTL , warehousing and plant transfers around the Cincinnati area. They had me do a road test and then for several days had their safety driver ride with me. After that they put me on a contract of their's where several hundred loads of freight needed to be moved from one location back to our facility. These were 60 mile round trips and several drivers were running it at once so their was always someone close if I needed anything. Did 3 of those trips a day for several weeks then they turned me loose to run everything else.

Key thing for me was that this was a local "trucking company". I was bumping docks and doing drop and hooks just like OTR but my trips were very short. I had every intention of staying with them for a year but after about 3 months I updated the indeed resume and was contacted by RYDER with an offer I couldn't refuse for my current position, will be there 2 years in April.

Thanks Greg. That's very encouraging. I will likely give that approach a shot.