Work Restrictions

Hello. I am new here and seriously looking into at getting into trucking. I am a medically retired police officer after 16 years of service. The injury was back related and I have permanent work restrictions. These restrictions are no repetitive bending or stooping and no lifting, pushing or pulling over 25pounds. I am well aware that many places require drivers to load/unload their trailers while others have "no touch freight."

The question is, based upon my restrictions, am I un-employable as a noob? Thank you for your responses. Don't worry, you can burst my bubble. I need reality, not cherry in the sky. I really want to drive but if I am wasting my time and resources (CDL school), I'll kill my dream now. Thank you again.

Can you climb into and out of the truck several times per day? Can you climb into the trailer to sweep it out. When dropping and hooking, sometimes, the landing gear is very hard to crank. Some trailers have handles to release the tandems that can be difficult to lift or pull.

Hope that helps.

I'm not a truck driver yet, but I did go to school for it a few years ago. The thing that stands out to me is raising and lowering the landing gear. Some of that requires a good deal of strength. I'm not even sure how the women in the industry handle it. I could bench nearly 300lbs the time, and I struggled with some of the landing gear at the school.

Can you climb into and out of the truck several times per day? Can you climb into the trailer to sweep it out. When dropping and hooking, sometimes, the landing gear is very hard to crank. Some trailers have handles to release the tandems that can be difficult to lift or pull.

Hope that helps.

I can raise/lower a car with the poor excuse of a jack that comes stock with the vehicle if that is comparable to turning the crank on a landing gear for a trailer?

Thank you for the quick reply. Yes, I can climb in and out of a cab and into/out of a trailer. The work restrictions are in place to keep me from further damaging my back. I am not sure of the poundage requirements needed for cranking on a the handle for the landing gear or the trailer release.

I'm not a truck driver yet, but I did go to school for it a few years ago. The thing that stands out to me is raising and lowering the landing gear. Some of that requires a good deal of strength. I'm not even sure how the women in the industry handle it. I could bench nearly 300lbs the time, and I struggled with some of the landing gear at the school.

I would worry more about pulling the release handle for the fifth wheel than cranking the landing gear up and down.

I could bench maybe 125 or 150 on a good day and have never had many problems with the landing gear cranking. Two fingers are usually sufficient.

Charles, not all lifting has to do with freight. For example, If you were to be assigned a truck, you have to load all your gear into it for OTR or drive a daycab. Even a bag of ice is more than 25 pounds. I’m 69 years old and limited on my lifting, but if I had to be restricted to 25 pounds, I honestly think I would be unable to do my job. There is a lot more physical work required in truck driving than most people think.

Thank you guys for all your input. There are many things to consider. I did yard work for my last church (I just moved, so new church now) and used the back pack blower (gas powered), operated the ride on mower and used the weed eater just fine. All these items were under 25lbs.

I'll call a recruiter and see what they say. The worst that happens is I find a different career path.

Thank you all again for the time you took in responding.

have never had many problems with the landing gear cranking. Two fingers are usually sufficient.

You are lucky when ever it gets really cold, we have some legs that are next to impossible to crank. Even putting my full weight on it they barely will move. Had a trailer where the legs froze and I had to drop it in the shop on stands.

Hello. I am new here and seriously looking into at getting into trucking. I am a medically retired police officer after 16 years of service. The injury was back related and I have permanent work restrictions. These restrictions are no repetitive bending or stooping and no lifting, pushing or pulling over 25pounds. I am well aware that many places require drivers to load/unload their trailers while others have "no touch freight."

The question is, based upon my restrictions, am I un-employable as a noob? Thank you for your responses. Don't worry, you can burst my bubble. I need reality, not cherry in the sky. I really want to drive but if I am wasting my time and resources (CDL school), I'll kill my dream now. Thank you again.

Oh, dear. Sorry to hear about your injury.. That is.. but livable, if you are willing to adapt and sustain, no sugar will help. Here my thoughts, what you are asking about.. If, or when you get your CDL , do not ever worry about "unloading", reefer or dry box will be your choice only.. check in, back in, wait, phone call, check out, done. Do not get into Volvo, your back will scream at you' no recline.. To "sweep".. get yourself a nice battery powered blower, no sweeping required. I use Makita highest blow model, takes 3 minutes to "sweep". And no, you are not a "noob", you have driven most of your life, it is just a beefier and longer thing to watch behind yourself, widest angle possible to turn. Wish you luck. When you learn to "back up", watch your trailer tire trajectory, not a trailer itself. If any concerns or questions, I stop by sometimes.

Hello. I am new here and seriously looking into at getting into trucking. I am a medically retired police officer after 16 years of service. The injury was back related and I have permanent work restrictions. These restrictions are no repetitive bending or stooping and no lifting, pushing or pulling over 25pounds. I am well aware that many places require drivers to load/unload their trailers while others have "no touch freight."

The question is, based upon my restrictions, am I un-employable as a noob? Thank you for your responses. Don't worry, you can burst my bubble. I need reality, not cherry in the sky. I really want to drive but if I am wasting my time and resources (CDL school), I'll kill my dream now. Thank you again.

Oh, dear. Sorry to hear about your injury.. That is.. but livable, if you are willing to adapt and sustain, no sugar will help. Here my thoughts, what you are asking about.. If, or when you get your CDL , do not ever worry about "unloading", reefer or dry box will be your choice only.. check in, back in, wait, phone call, check out, done. Do not get into Volvo, your back will scream at you' no recline.. To "sweep".. get yourself a nice battery powered blower, no sweeping required. I use Makita highest blow model, takes 3 minutes to "sweep". And no, you are not a "noob", you have driven most of your life, it is just a beefier and longer thing to watch behind yourself, widest angle possible to turn. Wish you luck. When you learn to "back up", watch your trailer tire trajectory, not a trailer itself. If any concerns or questions, I stop by sometimes.

Thank you for the encouragement. I contacted a CDL school and the guy was honest. He said there is a concern about the release handle of the trailer. He said he'd go check the torque lbs needed and call me back. His other concern was if I'd be able to pass the DOT physical. Other then work restrictions, I'm healthy. Glad he was honest about there being possible issues instead of just trying to sell me a course. Refreshing.

Possible option he said was to get me a job driving tumbler trucks so long as the jostling doesn't hurt and I was okay with that. I will learn more when he calls back but he genuinely seemed to want to help.