65-years Young Retiree Needs Advice
Topic 30514 | Page 1
Your age is not an issue for trucking. It would be best to get your medical issue cleared up first. As far as your work gap, you retired. That's provable.
You can study the High Road CDL Training Program for your CDLP. If you start studying now, by the time you're ready you will know the info backwards and forwards.
Good luck to you.
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.
Hi, C. A., we have a ton of information for potential truckers on this website. Touch on the three-bar menu (upper left) for a direct route to our stuff. In particular there's this: DOT Physical - The Complete Guide
A hint for Arkansans: the Arkansas CDL requires that you get trained and registered with Truckers Against Trafficking. (I believe everyone reading this should take the training.)
BTW, I got info a truck when I was 66. That was four years ago.
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.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Thanks Errol V. Arkansas does require Truckers Against Trafficking training. I’ve viewed their training videos already. Also watched a 2016 documentary called “Lot Lizard”. I’m glad that the trucking industry is onboard to do something proactively to help rescue the under age girls and boys being trafficked.
I’m still trying to figure this message system out. I submitted a reply to Big Scott, but it didn’t get posted for some reason.
Thanks for the advice. I agree that I need to get the medical vision (cataract) situation satisfactorily resolved before I submit any applications. I don’t want to waste a recruiter’s time nor mine. Once I get my CDL-P and DOT medical card, I will start applying.
I’m in the final transition moving from the Branson, MO area to SE Arkansas in Monticello to be near my wife’s family. My family are in Colorado.
Prime Inc has been at top of my list of companies because of their CDL training program and range of opportunities. However I will need to look hard at companies with terminals in Little Rock area (1 hr 45 mins from home) vs 6 hrs to Springfield.
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.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
BMI:
Body mass index (BMI)
BMI is a formula that uses weight and height to estimate body fat. For most people, BMI provides a reasonable estimate of body fat. The BMI's biggest weakness is that it doesn't consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass. BMI may:
- Underestimate body fat for older adults or other people with low muscle mass
- Overestimate body fat for people who are very muscular and physically fit
It's quite common, especially for men, to fall into the "overweight" category if you happen to be stronger than average. If you're pretty strong but in good shape then pay no attention.
What do you need a terminal for?
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
CA -
Others on the forum can answer your questions better than I, since I'm a noob. I just wanted to say "hi!"
I came out of 39 years in the oil patch, most recently as a completions consultant on horizontal multi-stage fracturing. I'm 63 years old and passed my CDL tests yesterday. It sounds like you've had a similar experience with the job market. I believe there is a very strong prejudice against hiring people "our age", except in trucking. After 15 months of sitting at the house, and applying for hundreds of jobs, I decided to pursue trucking since it is something I've always wanted to do.
Have you considered Knight Transportation? They have a terminal at Olive Branch, MS and another one at Gulfport. The training is in Phoenix and is three weeks long. From what I've read, it is not that important to live close to your terminal. I am 290 miles from my home terminal in El Paso. One of the mods, I think Old School, lives in East Texas and is based in Gulfport.
Welcome aboard!
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.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Heck yeah, 65 is still a baby in this industry. Trucking is the least discriminatory job market I've ever seen, age, sex, skin color, nationality, they welcome all. I've heard of a 78 year old starting his trucking career and had multiple job offers.
I too hold an Arkansas CDL , I didn't know about the TAT video so I had to register and watch it on my phone while at the 1 state police plaza. I took the test afterwards then told them and all was good.
I'd recommend you take care of the medical issues first. You'll want to get a few people that know you write letters saying they know you and what you'd been doing for that time. They generally just want to know you weren't off in a foreign country undergoing terrorism training and whatnot. Good luck with it al, hope it works out. I'm a retired postal worker and wished I'd gone into trucking decades ago.
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.
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I’m seriously considering getting my CDL-A at age 65 to start my second career as a professional driver OTR dry van or reefer. I was “retired” in 2016 at age 60 following a 38-year career with Chevron as a Petroleum Engineer. I’ve been driving class A diesel motorhomes last 5 years. I took an RV driving safety class from a retired professional truck driver/trainer. It was great! I have a couple questions for which I will appreciate your advice.
1. I have not worked last 5 years. Will this cause me an issue with the 3-year recent work history requirement?
2. I need to get a vision issue corrected in August before I can consider doing this to pass the DOT medical. Then get my CDL-P in Arkansas.
Question: should I go ahead to apply to companies with paid CDL training before I get my CDL-P and DOT medical card or wait? My concern is whether or not companies will be interested in hiring me at my age.
I’ve been applying to a lot of jobs over last 18 months, not in trucking industry. Im convinced that being an older white male is working against me.
I appreciate TT website resources. I’ve read just about everything that I can find here over the last couple months.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated