Haven't Driven A CDL In 5+ Years, Where Should I Start?

Hi everyone, Some background: i got my CDL when i was 18, got a job right away but only worked 3 months because of a pay issue. After that it was very hard to find a job so i went a different route. Now I'm 25, quit my job on an ambulance yesterday and wanted to get back into trucking. I filled out an application at a local place where I know a few people and got called back for a road test today. I practically bombed the road test, no safety issues but I sure forgot how narrow the gears are and had a bit of trouble in the lower gears where they are so close but i was fine in the higher gears. I called a few companies and because I'm not a recent grad and I have no experience I couldn't really qualify. Any ideas of where I might start. I was thinking of going to a local school and renting the truck to practice but what about job opportunities? thanks in advance.

Do you still have your CDL? I'm sure a more experienced person will be able to give you better advice, but it occurs to me that if you're really rusty and you've been out of practice for so long (and your driving experience was limited to only 3 months anyway), you should probably consider just going to school and starting over from scratch. It won't take long to get through training and you'll refresh all of your skills. That's what I would do anyway!

Yeah, you will have to pretty much start from scratch like Houkie said.

I think your best bet for getting a refresher in training and getting out on the road as quickly as possible is going through one of the trucking companies that have their own training programs. You can find those here:

Company-Sponsored Training Programs

Just start applying like crazy to all of them and follow up with phone calls at least every other day until you know your application has been processed and you get an answer. Otherwise applications tend to sit on a pile collecting dust.

That's probably your best bet.

The other option is to apply for work at various trucking companies and they'll tell you whether or not you can take a refresher course at a local truck driving school to qualify for employment.

You definitely do not want to rent a truck on your own to practice though. That isn't going to help you. You need to go through some sort of official re-training that is approved by a trucking company as a condition for employment. That's what will get you back behind the wheel.

Thanks for the replies, Yes i still have my cdl. The only problem I had on the road test was the shifting, i passed the companies pretrip, safety and everything else but they were short drivers and not in a position to accommodate my relearning curve and like i said its a good local company and i was only one of 12 there for 2 spots. I talked to a recruiter at another company nearby and they gave me a name and number to a school that they use to train all their drivers and the schools refresher is quite frankly longer than my original school was which is great but the only bad part is the price. two companies that sponsor training that i was thinking about both told me I already have my cdl go get 6 months experience and come back. I think i'll go with the refresher. Thanks again everyone,

Just make sure a trucking company approves the refresher course before you sign up. Every trucking company has their own requirements and their own list of approved schools. So signing up for a refresher course doesn't mean you'll have good opportunities available after completing it. You have to have the right course at the right school for the company you're interested in working for.

So start about by applying to trucking companies and they'll tell you what it will take to qualify for employment there.

I'm in the same boat as OP. The problem is, these trucking companies don't really communicate much. Perhaps inflation is crushing the folks in HR and they're ****ed all day long. Not sure.

Paul, most newer trucks are automated transmissions nowadays. Doesn’t hurt to be able to drive a manual but you will likely end up in an auto. Even if you get restricted to only drive auto, don’t hesitate to accept a job like that. As your experience indicates (12 applicants for 2 openings) , driving jobs can be hard to come by in this freight recession.