I'm 4'11" With A Criminal Background

I'm looking to get my CDL and my mom is worried about my criminal history. I have 3 possession of a controlled substance charges one of which I went to prison for 3 years ago on the 4th of next month. I also have a fleeing from police misdemeanor from the 4th of June 2021. I got out of prison 2 years ago in August and have been sober the whole time. As I am now coming up on being 3 years out from my charges I was hoping to go to school to get my CDL. I read a previous post from a few years ago where y'all were very blunt and honest and I am looking for that same response here. I've talked to a few people with their CDLs that have told me felonies wouldn't keep me from driving a truck but I wanted to get a response from a larger crowd who aren't here to spare my feelings. I'm very excited to have my life back and to be on such a good road in my recovery and I feel like this would be a big step in a career minded direction for me. I love driving alone and I pride myself on my abilities to back in and parallel park standard vehicles and would take that same pride into trucking. My best friend is also concerned that I'm not tall enough to drive a truck. I'm 4'11"? Would my height be an issue? I don't think it would be but figured y'all would be the ones to ask. Thanks for your time!

Welcome and congrats on turning your life around. That is difficult and takes alot of commitment.

Your mom is partially correct. Your criminal history will be a hefy hinderance. You are not disqualified from getting a CDL but your choices of companies will be very limited. Each company handles felonies in their own way. The short amount of time since conviction will also be a deterent.

The trucking industry has been in a bad place for the last couple of years and hiring is very slow. Also alot of companies have been going out of business at a fast pace putting alot more experienced drivers on the market.

Your height isn’t really an issue. My wife is 5’2” and manages just fine.

I highly recommend you to look for company sponsered training. When you pass school you have a job.

If you go to a private school you will then be looking for a job after paying out a bunch of money with no idea who will hire you.

Apply through this site and see if any companies with school are willing to give you a shot. You will be fighting an uphill battle, but it only takes one yes.

Lexi, I definitely agree with everything PJ told you. I’m going to post some links that may help you to test the waters.

And your height won’t matter when you are in the driver’s seat. It just makes it a little harder to open, close and latch trailer doors. Drivers of you height are not at all uncommon.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Apply For Paid CDL Training

Good luck! Write us a short story about your efforts to get started.

I don’t know about the criminal history part but being 6’3 on some trucks i have to have the driver’s side window open to use the clutch lol. So I don’t think being short will be a problem

I'm looking to get my CDL and my mom is worried about my criminal history. I have 3 possession of a controlled substance charges one of which I went to prison for 3 years ago on the 4th of next month. I also have a fleeing from police misdemeanor from the 4th of June 2021. I got out of prison 2 years ago in August and have been sober the whole time. As I am now coming up on being 3 years out from my charges I was hoping to go to school to get my CDL. I read a previous post from a few years ago where y'all were very blunt and honest and I am looking for that same response here. I've talked to a few people with their CDLs that have told me felonies wouldn't keep me from driving a truck but I wanted to get a response from a larger crowd who aren't here to spare my feelings. I'm very excited to have my life back and to be on such a good road in my recovery and I feel like this would be a big step in a career minded direction for me. I love driving alone and I pride myself on my abilities to back in and parallel park standard vehicles and would take that same pride into trucking. My best friend is also concerned that I'm not tall enough to drive a truck. I'm 4'11"? Would my height be an issue? I don't think it would be but figured y'all would be the ones to ask. Thanks for your time!

Here is a tough one for you, while my situation is different from yours, it is close enough and fraught with failures. I am an old a$$ man with an old a$$ criminal record. I been out of prison since 06, did 10 straight for manslaughter, I have worked non stop or been in college since then don't drink do drugs the whole nine yards of living the perfect life since going into prison. I started trying to get a CDL about 3 months ago, so far I am O-fer meaning no success and lots of tries, always the same answer after going through the application process. I keep getting hemmed up on the felony, I have not tried ALL companies yet and I am seeing there ARE ways even I can get into trucking just not right now under my circumstances and goal as a driver.

The big problem I have is my felony is Manslaughter and though it is 30 years old it is there and it is never going away, so perhaps I can get in with a small local company where I can go right to the people face time in person with them and get a job driving and do local or short haul stuff, which is not what I want I think in time I can do it, just not right now.

What I am saying is you will have a tough time of it right now PROBABLY, not for sure but PROBABLY. The reason I am saying things this way is because I have something else in common with you, that is a history of substance abuse and recovery, while I have 30 years in the bag sober it means nothing when it comes to hardship rejection and the other associated failures I have had since I decided to flip my life around and live with out substance abuse in it. It is the failures and rejections that are tests of your commitment to the change so do not be surprised if you are rejected time and again for jobs as a driver, it may be that your commitment to your sobriety is being tested, That is just an old drunk saying something that might be real might not be.

Sometimes we put a whole lot of our selves into a hope or a dream that can be as simple as getting a job. I am saying you might have to work hard at getting a driving job and fail a lot in the effort, but that don't mean it cant be done, just don't let it mess up the important thing, that is having a clear mind.

FYI all I have is a learners permit and an offer to go to a school, though no job offers. I am NOT a Trucker, just wish I was, and working at finding a way into it.