I'm 25 Years Old Wanting To Get Into The Trucking Industry

I'm determined to get into the trucking industry and do otr driving I'm about to go to a school next week but my only worries are I have 2 misdemeanors a theft of property charge and a possession of marijuana charge both 6 years old,is there any chance I can get a otr driving job before I waste money?

Oh boy! You need to keep your money because those schools only guarantee that you get your CDL and that's it.

It will be tough for you to get a job with the drug charge. There will be many companies no matter how old that drug charge is won't have anything to do with you. Many companies require five to 10 years of being clean. The other incident of theft of property is still a concern but there will be companies that are forgiving of that.

Instead, I would talk with companies that train drivers and then keep them on after training with a job because they will have vetted those two incidents ahead of time. Below I will have some links that you need to read and hopefully you can proceed forward in getting your CDL.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)

• High Road CDL Training Program

• CDL Practice Tests

I thought we had some links on having to get your CDL with a record, but I don't see them right off hand. Hopefully some of the guys will be along and can post them for you so you can read up on what it will take. It won't be easy in this economy but if you're persistent and show that you learn your lesson and you've been clean, it might not be as hard to get on with the company. You will get a lot of "No's" so don't get discouraged.

Laura

I will second what ID Mtn Gal said. Apply for company sponsored training. If they accept you into their training program you can be certain your past is not an issue. Just be honest with them when applying. You don't want them to discover something you failed to disclose and get sent home for it.

Totally agree with the previous comments.

Additionally, I’d like to mention a slightly different approach to this issue because it seems we get so many inquiries from individuals who made mistakes in the past but want to become drivers.

There are entry level driving jobs where a small company might send someone with a checkered past to a school so they can do specific driving. Not that it is easy to find such a company or opportunity, but they do exist.

Case in point: when I went to CDL school, my classmate was a young man who had gotten in some serious trouble related to substance abuse. He got a job with a recycling company that needed a driver to make a daily run to another facility and back again. This was all intrastate driving. So they sent him to this school to get his license and drive for them. He was like many who inquire here with past issues. He wouldn’t have been accepted for company training with a company like Prime or Swift or Schneider, etc., but this little niche job gave him a start and an opportunity to rehabilitate himself. So sometimes if a person has the desire and determination they can get a toe-hold as a driver by seeking out a less demanding company and then climb the ladder from there.

Cancel school. By the time you find a job, your schooling will be worthless and you will have to go through training again.

My company requires 10 years from sentence completion date... not date of conviction.

Lang, you're not the only person with "a record" that wants to get into trucking. We do have some helpful information.

First, you can ask our Answer Bot, Jimmy, who might get you more information than you asked for. Just copy/paste your question from above into Jimmy's entry box and here it comes!

Or you can go the old fashioned way and look here: Trucking Companies That Will Hire Felons.

Good luck!