Does Anyone Know Of Any Companies That Would Take On A Driver From The UK

Hi all,

I am looking at coming over to the states in the future (I have a sister there who will petition for me under the F4 visa, but the queue for this is ultra long) I am very keen on becoming a OTR driver , I would be willing to cover all my transfer / visa / paperwork fees and happily stay contracted to a company . I am currently truck driving in the UK , which I know does not make any difference in the US but at least I have experience of driver larger road vehicles. I have a clean record and no history of drugs or alcohol and Im also ex military

I hope someone could point me in the right direction or help out with any contacts

Safe driving

Regards

Steve

Hello Steven, and welcome to our forum!

Your question is a complicated one, as I am sure you realize already. You can come to the U.S. and be a truck driver, but you cannot do it through a work Visa. Our government has classified trucking jobs as "unskilled" labor. There was and is a political reason for that classification, but it keeps you from being able to be sponsored by a company for a trucking job when you come here.

We have had a few of our members here who came from the UK and became truck drivers here. What they did is come and establish themselves as residents and then got a standard U.S. driver's license. After holding that license for one full year they were then allowed to pursue the Commercial Driver's License. That is my best advice, although I understand there are a few states that may not require that one year waiting period. Florida may be one of them.

There may be some more devious ways to go about it, but I am not familiar with them.

Thank you Old School for the reply,

Yes I kinda thought it wasn't going to be an easy path, you would of thought it would of come under even a semi skilled job purely because you cant just jump into a large vehicle and drive around in it , without doing a course and passing a test at the end!!

if any one knows ant backdoor/ devious ways around this I would be happy to receive any private messages and all options right now will be seriously considered , even if it costs me

Regards All

Steve

The backdoor you seek is in Canada. While the US won't let you come to work as a truck driver on a work visa, Canada will let you in on their Temporary Foreign Worker Program. This will allow you to live and work in Canada. You can then fill out an Expression of Interest online for a specific Canadian province. If you meet their requirements they will invite you to apply for a program in the Provincial Nominee Program. The province will then nominate you for residency under Canada's express entry program.

I recommend Quebec - you can drive there for 6 months legally with your UK license and they will exchange your UK CDL for a Quebec CDL if you pass a written test - no residency, truck driving school, Canadian drive time or other requirements.

So why bother with a Canadian CDL if you want to drive in the US? Per FMCSA's Notice and Technical Amendment to Part 383, the US and Canada have full CDL reciprocity. You can legally drive in any US state with a Canadian CDL. You should have no problem finding a driving job going into the US.

The backdoor you seek is in Canada. While the US won't let you come to work as a truck driver on a work visa, Canada will let you in on their Temporary Foreign Worker Program. This will allow you to live and work in Canada. You can then fill out an Expression of Interest online for a specific Canadian province. If you meet their requirements they will invite you to apply for a program in the Provincial Nominee Program. The province will then nominate you for residency under Canada's express entry program.

I recommend Quebec - you can drive there for 6 months legally with your UK license and they will exchange your UK CDL for a Quebec CDL if you pass a written test - no residency, truck driving school, Canadian drive time or other requirements.

So why bother with a Canadian CDL if you want to drive in the US? Per FMCSA's Notice and Technical Amendment to Part 383, the US and Canada have full CDL reciprocity. You can legally drive in any US state with a Canadian CDL. You should have no problem finding a driving job going into the US.

Very interesting, good sir!!

I'm SAVING this information in MY cache, as well...thanks!!

ps: To the O/P Steven, Bison Transport is a 'must see' company that does MUCH cross border transport, and is one of Canada's largest (and finest) carriers, IMHO.

~ Anne ~