Schneider Offers Hope To A Felons Future

Yep, That me and that is a typical letter that I get when trying to get a job. Good ol' stamp on non-approval

Hey TT members and lurkers! My name is Trevor, Trev, TopNotchTre :) which ever one you would like. It's not at all uncommon when I try to get a Job that I get letter's just like the one above... Why? you ask. Well Between the ages of 18 and 22 I made some bad decisions, hung around with the wrong people. I spent about 2 years of my life behind bars, be that jails and prison. In that time I racked up 4 class 2(or class B depending of the state) felonies between 2 different states. In addition to that I also managed to get myself a misdemeanor Negligent driving - 1st degree - reduced from DUI.

My dad has been driving with Conway for a while and has over a million safe miles with them and though he can't manage his money all that great the guy can make a good living with his salary. Well that got me thinking about truck driving, so I started looking into it. With a record like I have though, I was surly never going to be able to drive a truck. But that didn't stop me from doing the research. So I did just that. To my surprise, I found there are actually a lot of companies that will hire felons. One exception though... They have to be 5 years or greater behind you. Now i'm not saying that is a mandated rule, but that is the minimum of years to have had gone by before there guidelines say they can consider you for employment. If you are reading this and you have a felony 4-2 years behind you and your looking in to getting a job driving for a company, i'm not saying there is no hope. The worst anyone can say is no and you should in fact apply to as many companies you can that do consider felons.

So, I am 28 at the moment so I meet the 5 year requirement. That's when I really dug in and I ended running across this website. With all that I have read, here is one more for you Brett, thanks man! What you brought together on here is truly unique and is appreciated. I was originally thinking about applying with Prime because they have the whole schabang at one place(Prime does hire felons), but that would mean that I would have to leave the fam bam for a minute until I got myself going. That was an option but not one that was really ready to just jump at. So then I used an option on this website to search for CDL schools near me. Well I found one and paid them a visit the next day. Got all the information that I needed about going there. In addition, they told me they also partnered with Schneider to train their students and in turn Schneider paid for there schooling cost in full. But Schneider? That was a pretty reputable company so right off-the-bat I was not sure of that option for me. But nonetheless, I went home and back to research to look at Schneider and their hiring guidelines/policies for felons.

Schneider does consider employement of felons, however the felonies must be 7 years old. Well when i read that I was kinda torn becasue at the time 7 years doesn't truly pass for me until 4 months or so. Just so happens when I caught that felony just month or so before is when I caught the downgraded DUI.. I told myself screw it. I'm going to at least try and find out what they say. So I jumped on their website and started the application for the paid training/ no cdl required posting. Made sure to put all of my history in full detail including residence, job history, criminal and driving. Wooosh, man that is so hard to do sometimes. If you don't have felonies I would not expect for you to understand but you get so discouraged when you get letters all the time like the one I got posted above. Feels like no one will hire you. And I mean, I'm not a bad person I just made some mistakes and I corrected them. I'm just your normal guy that along with that has a wife, son and daughter, trying to make a living the right way. Okay, So i got the application submitted and I just hurried up and waited ;)

Took the recruiter about two weeks to reach out to me. (Figured that they had just tossed my app to the side by that time) When she called me we basically just went over my app with fine detail. Another excruciating period of time only I have to talk to a live person about my history and this person has the all-might power of employment behind her. But we get through it and she lets me know she will see what she can do and get back to me... Well that didn't sound to reassuring, but okay. About 3 days after that she called me back and let me know that she is ready to give me a conditional offer of employment!!!! All I had to do was do the DOT physical, UA and plus hair follicle test for drugs. I was like a kid in a candy store I was so darn happy. She put me on the line with the medical department and we scheduled everything for the next day. Took about two weeks because of Christmas and the holidays but signed my training contract agreement on the 1st of January and the school called me yesterday and said I was good to go and I can start class on the 19th!!!! So so excited to start this journey!

Congrats !!!!

Good for you!!! Congratulations and all the best of luck.

Congrats, man! That is great! I cannot even imagine how that sucked for you, trying to get a job. It was annoying for me because I had one little fender bender a year and a half ago. I got rejected by about ten companies. Good luck!

What a great story congrats I hope everything works out for you

Congrats man.....we all make mistakes at some point in our lives. Looks like you got that second chance that alot of people don't get. Good luck!

Thanks everyone!!! I appreciate it!!

Yes that is great news! Be sure to keep us all posted on your progress and how it's all going for you! :)

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give an update on my employment with Schneider. I have been with them for a little over 90 days and by myself on the road for over 60. I have had a great experience with them thus far and would say that to anyone considering them to definitely do just that. My class started with 7 people and only 2 of us made it through and are still employed there. The other guy that stuck it through, well i'm not sure that he would say the same things I would about the company. But with that being said, not every company is right for every person. I think he has/is having trouble because he complains a lot. I don't think I have complained at all.... lol at least not to my dang boss. How ppl expect to get ahead in life talking trash/ giving a hard time to the people to make there job possible i'll never know. I only say that because my rookie butt has no place to do so. I can't count how many times I thought if I did things my way it would save me time while driving.... Yeah I have to humble myself regularly. Anyways, I got my first raise within 30 days and transfer to my permanent DBL about the same time. They say this period can take up to 90 days so I am moving right along. Whenever I am in my home O.C. I make sure to stop by all the cubicles where the dispatchers sit to say hi to my boss and the others. Must of paid off because they needed 10 people from our O.C. to help assist with a Walmart Pop-up fleet. I basically only have to do one load a day and I come back home everyday as well with the weekends off.(My normal gig is 11 days on and 3 days home) They pay me a daily rate of about $200 so it was golden for me. But everything they have told me from the gate has been true and honored. The OPs Manager told me don't expect to get rich and that when you first start off it takes a little while to get the money flowing. Things where slow at first but as soon as I got my permanent boss, she changed something in the system and ever since I usually get more miles then I can do a day and they never keep me waiting somewhere to get a load. Definitely considering going with one of the LTL companies in my area next year, but still not sure yet. I would love to stay over the road because i truly enjoy it. But with the little ones at home, I'll have to wait until later in life if I where to consider it. But to anyone out there thinking of Schneider as the right choice for them.... This guy has no complaints. My only advise would be make sure you communicate with your leaders, don't be afraid to ask questions, don't b**ch about crappy loads if you haven't earned the right to do so, stay positive and keep a smile on your face. NO ONE SMILES OUT THERE! You would be surprised on how far a dang smile and a friendly attitude will go with your leaders, shippers and receivers. Even if your stuck somewhere for 6 hours, your not going to change that fact by being a**hole. Good luck out there and stay safe!!!

GOOGLE DATA FOR MY LAST 30 DAYS OTR

Congrats, happy everything seems to be going great for you. Great attitude goes along way doesn't it. Keep smiling