Another Noob
Topic 29358 | Page 1
Welcome aboard Matthew!
You are younger than the average truck driver - take heart! There are a lot of drivers here who started well into their fifties. You are just right!
You can get past the felony. You already know some companies will reject you, but that doesn't mean all of them will. You just may have to shop around a little more than the average newbie. Don't lose your focus. Keep on putting out those applications.
The absolute best way for someone in your situation to start this career is to go through a Paid CDL Training Program. That way the company has checked you out before hand and decided they want to give you a chance to prove yourself. If you go trough private schooling you may just find that you spent a small fortune on getting a CDL, but you still can't get a job. That is the last position you want to find yourself in. The company sponsored training programs will help keep you from getting the cart before the horse.
Here's some great information you should start working on reading. We call it our "Starter Kit." There's just a lot of great information in here to help you get started on your new journey.
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
Here's one more thing that you'll want to study up on...
Trucking Companies That Hire Felons
We will help you anyway we can. Don't be afraid to ask questions or join in our conversations. We do this just for folks like you. Helping people navigate their way into a trucking career is what we do, and there no one out there doing it better than us!
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.
Company Sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
I would highly suggest giving CFI a call. They do have some drivers with that past. Call a recruiter, be honest, tell them all you have done since then. Go from there.
Use the links Old School gave you to learn a bit about this lifestyle.
Hope this helps.
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TT On Facebook
Tomorrow is my 40th birthday (young I know). As I sit back and reflect over the last 40 years I can say that I have had alot of experiences and I wasted most of the those 40 years. So hear I am a felon, a registered sex offender (Long story that happened when I was 17 eons ago. Everything was consensual, but i made a mistake and I gotta own that). Anyways I owned my own cleaning business with my wife and well Covid took that away from me (Probably all the best the wife and I doing better than ever and I needed to walk away just couldn't do it myself. This site has been a blessing to see that this may very well be a good choice for myself and the family, Mama got herself a better paying job than we could pay ourselves and she's happy so its time for me to get up off the couch. I look forward to getting to know y'all and the 'door' is always open for comments, advice, suggestions and the get your head out of your rear and getting it movings that I generally need. Thanks.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.