At A Crossroads And In Need Of Direction!!

Hey guys... Thought I would give you a quick update. Feel like i had a little set back today and would like your thoughts.

So I went and got my DMV Printout and my license is clear but I have 3 unresolved tickets. TWO "driving without liability insurance" in 2012 and one "No license on person" t be honest I had kind of forgotten about those darn things. I had been working a side job and got laid offf but while I was working I had arranged to make payments on the fines through a court sponsored credit agency, when I got laid off I couldn't afford to make payments.

So being the pro-active type of guy that I am I contacted the local recruiter for Central and told her I was concerned and she asked me to come to the office right away, which I did. She kind of laughed it off at first because she thought I had some felonies or something so she said "let me see your printout" when she saw that I had the 3 unresolved tickets she said that was a deal breaker and I would have to get them cleared first no exceptions.

So I left feeling pretty deflated but thought there has to be a way out of this mess. So never being one to give up I contacted both courts ( two of the tickets are out of one court and the other is from a separate court) they said they would look into it and one court clerk called me back from the court holding two of the infractions.

I told the lady my whole sad story and she said I was either stuck trying to get the credit agency to reinstate the payment plan or petition the judge . The thing I have probably failed to mention that as long as the credit agency has a payment plan set up the infraction will no show up as unresolved but since I stopped paying they now require the entire balance to clear it ($600 some dollars)

So I immediately wrote out a heart felt letter to the judge and emailed it to the clerk she called me back and said she would get it to the judge ASAP and she couldn't promise anything but said it was a very moving, and compelling letter and she thought I had a good shot at getting it re instated. I basically just told my whole story to the judge told her I was In a pretty tough spot financially and trying to make a positive change in my life and asked if she would " at least re authorize the payment program, significantly reduce the fine, or if she felt compelled to dismiss the case outright ( I figure hell, what do I have to lose?? The answer is always no until you ask!!!)

So now I waill wait and see what happens.

My question to you guys is do you think this is a policy specific to Central or is this pretty standard thought the industry??

Any suggestions??

Thanks again eveeryone for your support, trust me... This might be a wall but I love climbing over walls. This is not going to stop my pursuit, the drive is too strong now!!

- Rob

My question to you guys is do you think this is a policy specific to Central or is this pretty standard thought the industry??

Here is the policy from Crete Carrier just to give you another viewpoint...

~ Has an acceptable driving record as reflected by MVR with no major preventable accident in the most recent five (5) years.

~ No DUI or DWI convictions or positive drug screens or events in the past (5) five years.

~ No felony convictions within the last ten (10) years.

To answer your question, this is standard throught the industry. It is just what the company's insurance policies require.

Goodluck with the judge! I am interested in their response when you get it, if you don't mind sharing.

Ok so some good news today. The judge agreed to pull both tickets back from collections and let me get back on a payment plan!! So I have to come up with $50 bucks and go set up the payments and they will release both FTA's from my license which will make them not show up on my DMV abstract as " UNRESOLVED" any more so that just leaves one ticket holding up my future plans. I plan on taking the same approach with that court starting tomorrow. Starting to feel good about things again, beautiful BEAUTIFUL day here in Seattle today.

THANKS EVERYONE for all the great advice, insight and information. I am not a super religious person but I have to say I feel bigger things at work here, I am being lead in a certain direction and have not felt this certain about a decision in my life in a long long time.

This may very well be this best site on the Internet! It certainly is to me right now. Thank you! I am truly blessed

Great news! Keep us updated!

Rob, you have proved a great point that I have been trying to make.....Common people CAN petition any court, by writing a letter...You don't need a attorney..heck...you can't afford 'em anyway !!! So here's proof positive.... Thank You Rob....

Hey guys just another quick update. Yesterday I wrote a pretty detailed letter to the second judge that oversees the court my other ticket is out of and filed that with them yesterday afternoon. I was told that the court will mail me her response so keep your fingers crossed. It's not the end of the world if she denies my request but it sure throws a pretty good mountain right in my path so I am really trying to stay positive and hoping for the best.

And @starcar - most definitely. Don't let the court clerks tell you different. Just contact the court and ask them who the judge is that is either attached to your case or who the judge is that reviews FTA's and late payments etc. Somewhere there is a judge that can do whatever they want by court order so find out who that judge is and write them a letter pleading your case and send it to them. Like I always so the answer might still be no but it is definitely no if you aren't willing to ask!!

I'll keep you updated as soon as I hear anything in the mean time think I will start the high road training to make good use of the time.

- rob

I will be thinkin' about ya, and have you in my prayers....

Now get in to that High Road, and get to learnin' Bucko.......we won't be havin' no slacker rookies 'round here.

Hey guys wanted to give you another update.

First of all thank you again for all the words of encouragement. What a great support group you all have been, and to think I am just getting started!! Good to know I will have some people with my back when I get out on the road and I hope one day to be able to return the favor.

So I have been waiting with baited breath for this other judge to make a decision and after not hearing anything yesterday I just called the court and asked the clerk if she could just tell me what the decision was in my case.

Unfortunately the judge said NO!! That is pretty much the long and short of it. The time that has passed since it has been passed off to this collection agency leaves her hands tied (at least that is what she said). So at first I was feeling completely defeated as this meant that I will need to come up with the entire balance before this ticket will be lifted which in my current financial situation and not having any income it might as well be $898 thousand. However I think I have mentioned before I have run into a lot of walls in my life and this was just another one to go around, climb over, dig under or KNOCK DOWN!!

So with a "where there's a will there's a way" attitude I contacted the credit agency and asked to speak to a supervisor, once I got someone on the phone I asked to speak to THEIR supervisor. After a decent wait I finally got to speak to someone that could actually make some real decisions.

I pleaded my case with her and told her the court told me that the credit agency could on a case by case basis accept payments while still lifting the hold on my license. At first she wasn't sounding to willing to budget but once again I made my case telling them that they could release the hold and I could get a good job and have some kind of income coming in which would lead to them getting this 7 year old case removed from their delinquent account list. I told them I had no assets and no income. I then made the point that they hold all the cards, if I set up a payment plan and dont make a payment they can always place the hold back on my license and I will be SCREWED as it will affect my CDL.

I wanted to reinforce the fact that I WANT TO PAY THIS TICKET OFF and I WOULD NOT SCREW IT UP!!

So eventually we reached an agreement. She said if I pay $350 she would release the hold on my license immediately and set the balance of the account up on payments!! While this is still a huge chunk of change I knew it was the best deal I was going to get and once again...where there's a will there's a way."

So I did my own little version of crowdsourcing. I went to my friends, my family even the pastor of the local church. I have some work to do and some promises to keep and some money to pay back but I am happy to report that after a full day of telling people how much I wanted this and how determined I was to make it happen I now have enough money to get the collection agency their $350 and the extra cash I will need to get through a few weeks of school before I get a check!

Wow just reading back the words I just wrote kind of gives me goosebumps. I have to say I may have been determined but reading all of your posts and your words of encouragement and learning as much as I can about what this whole journey is going to be like has been the driving force behind my determination and I can't thank you enough. There are no fantasies here I know that this is just the beginning and that there are going to be many more hurdles and some tough times ahead....but this IS HAPPENING PEOPLE!!

So now it is onto a lot of logistics, getting the money picked up and brought to the collection agency, going to courts and following up to make sure this things get lifted and getting another drivers abstract to make sure they are off and getting school scheduled. That is a lot to do.

Yes Starcar....there will be no rookie slackers round here!! Starting the High Road training today. Have been reading my commercial drivers manual just to prep myself. Thank for the push!!

Thanks everyone!! Will keep you updated!!

- Rob

Congrats Rob! Wow, this has become a fascinating adventure already and you haven't even begun the trucking part of it yet! But one thing is for sure - you're not going to take this opportunity for granted, no question about that!

I think it's quite safe to say that we're all really excited to watch your journey unfold. After all, the more difficult the journey the sweeter the prize. Get after that High Road Training Program. That's going to give you a huge advantage because you're going to know the materials before you ever even begin your schooling. While everyone else is cramming their brains full and stressing from information overload you're going to be kicking back and relaxing, knowing you've got it down.

That's going to give you a huge advantage because you're going to know the materials before you ever even begin your schooling. While everyone else is cramming their brains full and stressing from information overload you're going to be kicking back and relaxing, knowing you've got it down.

Now THATS the God's honest . . . if I've seen it once I've seen it many times where people have posted how welll they did (often surprising the DMV folks who give the test) after completing the training here. I went through the whole enchilada with a 98% and I plan on going through it again (starting real soon) just to cement that info in place.

Stephen E. Birch