South Florida Jobs

Hello all! I am new to the site and a new CDL graduate. I've just been told by my fourth carrier that it cannot hire anyone south of Orlando. From what I've seen I consider myself a top candidate, as I do have experience from long ago. I'm a worrier, so I wonder if they're just brushing me off because I'm 56 years old. I have told them I don't care where I live because I plan on being on the road full time. Are they feeding me bull? Any suggestions? Any suggestions or help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully I'll see you on the road!

I think there policies are legit, I see the same issue posted here every so often.

I wonder if a driver could make arrangements to have another place of residence and avoid this issue? Not suggesting anything dishonest, but there might be an alternative to this.

Check into: Mesilla Valley Transportation CFI Roehl Schneider Continental Express Epes (depends on school) Stevens Covenant(teams) Prime(?) not sure someone will chime in shortly. Kennesaw(maybe) Hirschbach KB Transportation Heartland(? Not sure exp requirements)

It's not age at all, but your location.

Lots of stuff comes in to Florida, while very little is exported. Local and regional driving will always have a better job chance there than an OTR driving position.

You are not being fed bull. The reason why you are being turned down is because of your location. It has nothing to do with your age. Freight is rather slow right now, but even when freight has been at normal levels, South Florida is a difficult location from which to find companies that hire drivers. A company to look at is Swift.

I believe Knight hires drivers out of South Florida.

If you are willing to consider flatbed, Cypress Truck Lines hires out of South Florida.

Those are the companies that I can remember off of the top of my head.

Martin is another with a big presence south of I-4.

Martin is another with a big presence south of I-4.

Marten has a terminal in Tampa! And tons of drop yards all over Florida!

Thank you for all of your replies. Most of the companies mentioned did not hire anyone in South Florida. Crazy to deny a good candidate just because of geography in a profession where all you do is travel. Feels like discrimination when you tell them you don't care about going back to South Florida. But anyways. I have an offer from Melton. Going to orientation at the end of the month. I did post another question if anyone has any info on their training program. Thanks again, hope to see you on the road!

It seems weird, but for larger companies it all boils down to your registered address with them. That is black and white. You making a decision today may change tomorrow, or next month and then they have an issue. If you were too use an address in a hiring area the response would be different.

Melton is a flatbed company that runs all over. Their equipment seems top notch. I’ve spoken with a hanfull of their drivers in the past who were happy and always dressed proffessionaly. I think you probably made a good decision.

Best wishes. Keep in touch and let us know how it goes

It's not weird at all. It is a legality. They legally have to get you home for doctors, elections and home time. Your registered address is not in their hiring area. .over your license. If they don't have the freight to do so, they won't hire in that area.

I love when people use discrimination in these situations. YES all hiring is discrimination and weeding out who they want vs who is available.

Prime has more FL drivers on the fleet than any other state. This limits the ability to get them home. Therefore every couple of years, they stop hiring from Florida. This hiring freeze is on now. Even rehires cannot get hired.

It's just business