I Need Some Advice On How To Handle This........

alright here's my story in a nutshell. I went to swift academy in Tennessee , everything went great passed all my test, got hired on and was out with my mentor entering into my second week with him. Previously several months ago when I filled out my application, under the question have u ever smoked marijuana I replied no. Later while with my mentor I made a remark (jokingly) that I wish I had some weed to settle my nerves while driving ( it was a joke, and I was new..there big trucks people) The next day my mentor told our driver manager about the remark and she told the terminal manager, and they pulled me in the office to ask me about it. While talking to the tm I was also on a conference call from someone from corporate and they asked me if I had ever in my life smoked marijuana and I told them the truth yeah I have. They asked if id b willing to take a **** test and have my belonging searched and I consented and said that was fine. After deciding to have me not take the test or have me searched they ended up firing me for falsifying my application. This all happened last week, and since than I have filled out numerous applications for a new job, but when I tell them what happened at swift they all tell me they cant help me. Can anyone please tell me what to do next, I don't do drugs, I don't even know why I would put that I hadn't ( other than its not something I like to brag about) but I did. What can I do from here on out I have three little girls to take care of, and now these companies think of me as a pile of **** for this... Idk what to do help me out someone thanks and God Bless

alright here's my story in a nutshell. I went to swift academy in Tennessee , everything went great passed all my test, got hired on and was out with my mentor entering into my second week with him. Previously several months ago when I filled out my application, under the question have u ever smoked marijuana I replied no. Later while with my mentor I made a remark (jokingly) that I wish I had some weed to settle my nerves while driving ( it was a joke, and I was new..there big trucks people) The next day my mentor told our driver manager about the remark and she told the terminal manager, and they pulled me in the office to ask me about it. While talking to the tm I was also on a conference call from someone from corporate and they asked me if I had ever in my life smoked marijuana and I told them the truth yeah I have. They asked if id b willing to take a **** test and have my belonging searched and I consented and said that was fine. After deciding to have me not take the test or have me searched they ended up firing me for falsifying my application. This all happened last week, and since than I have filled out numerous applications for a new job, but when I tell them what happened at swift they all tell me they cant help me. Can anyone please tell me what to do next, I don't do drugs, I don't even know why I would put that I hadn't ( other than its not something I like to brag about) but I did. What can I do from here on out I have three little girls to take care of, and now these companies think of me as a pile of **** for this... Idk what to do help me out someone thanks and God Bless

Pardner, you might be up the proverbial creek without a paddle but stick with the truth. I would seek smaller companies or a loading dock job to prove yourself to an employer. Maybe from there you can re-launch the driving career.

Good Luck

Do you have your CDL yet ??? If not, then you may have to go thru another school, and NOT tell them what you falsified on your Swift app...I know its not quite kosher to do that...but crap...a person has to make a living...they are treating you like Paula Dean !!! Thats just so wrong. But alot will depend on whether you have your cdl yet.

Do you have your CDL yet ??? If not, then you may have to go thru another school, and NOT tell them what you falsified on your Swift app...I know its not quite kosher to do that...but crap...a person has to make a living...they are treating you like Paula Dean !!! Thats just so wrong. But alot will depend on whether you have your cdl yet.

yeah I already have my cdl, what worries me is that trucking companies share a database telling your trucking job history, and swift told me that it would show up as me breaking company policy. I almost feel like the only thing to get me out of this is to lie again which I don't want to do, but like I said I have children to take care of so idk

Yeah your in a fix. Lying on an application is auto termination pretty much anywhere if you get caught. Not only that here is the real kicker..... You will have to list Swift as an employer and the reason why you left/got fired. Another thing is almost on every trucking application they ask if you have been fired from any job in the last year/three years. Of course you will have to tell them yes and the reason why.

In this market where there are hundreds coming into trucking every week I am afraid they will pick those that have not been fired over those that have been fired regardless of experience.

Best thing to do is try the smaller carriers and get a job,any driving job, including OTR(long haul) and keep that job for at least a year with zero mistakes. Right now you are treading water right on the edge of the "black balled" area.

Two things are going on here....first you lied on your application which is a serious No No...

And Two....you were fired because of it for breaking company policy.

You need to find a driving job anywhere you can and keep your nose clean for a year.

Man, that really sucks. Really sorry to hear about that. A seemingly innocent and trivial situation and now your career is on the line because of it. That's a bummer.

But I'm 100% confident you'll be back out there rolling again.

We have a new system where you can fill out an application and apply to a whole bunch of companies at once. You can find it here:

Apply for truck driving jobs

Pick as many companies as you like and then apply. Some you won't get accepted for because you have limited experience, others you will. So your application will be forwarded to the companies you qualify for and the system will tell you which companies those were.

That's all you can really do at this point is apply like crazy everywhere you can and grab the next opportunity. You have an advantage because we're entering the busiest time of the year for trucking right now so companies are going to be less selective. You'll have a much better shot than you would in say January when it's slow.

But use every resource you can. We have other Truck Driving Jobs you can apply to individually, and use sites like Craigslist and Indeed.com to find more opportunities.

Unfortunately you won't be able to hide the fact that you worked for Swift and got fired. But you can simply say "breaking company policy" as the reason for being fired and then decide what you'd like to tell them you did. If you lie and they find out, you're out the door. If you're honest, you may be out the door anyway. It's hard to say and it's one of those things you'll have to decide for yourself.

But just keep applying relentlessly and follow up with phone calls to make sure they're processing your application. You'll get out there again. It may take some time so prepare for an extended process, but hopefully it won't.

So is the problem that he lied on the application, or also that he smoked weed in the past? I've smoked for years and stopped when I decided I wanted to get into trucking. I'm now cleaning it all out of my system. I've gotten the at home tests to make sure I'm clean a few weeks before I start. Will I have a problem because of that or only if you fail a test and/or lie on the app?

The problem is that he lied on his application. It's one of those situations where he was "a little too honest" you could say. We've all done that before. You figure it's no big deal to tell someone something because essentially it's now harmless or meaningless and then they use it against you.

I remember my friend's daughter applied to work at a grocery store one time. She was 17 and it was her first job interview. They asked her if she had ever stolen anything and she innocently told them that when she was like 6 or 7 she took some bubble gum from a store and her mom made her take it back. She figured that being honest would be helpful, especially since she was only a little girl at the time and every little kid on the planet does that at one time or another. But they promptly told her they couldn't hire her, dismissed her from the interview, and that was that.

Sad and stupid that they would toss her to the curb for something so stupid, but true.

That is the problem with being young. Kids (1 years to 18 years old) are impulsive at the best of times. And even young adults. Most times people don't think about what they do today can and will mess you up in the future if you choose wrongly. This is one of those cases. Smoking weeds years ago may not seem like a big deal and may never have had a drug test. Its not the drug use that is the issue. Its the lying on the job application. If companies can not trust your word on a simple thing like a job application how can they trust you with a $100,000 piece of equipment and hundred of thousands of dollars worth of freight? The answer is...they will not take the chance.

This is exactly why we preach always be honest on your job applications cause if you slip up down the road, like was done here in this post, it could cost you a lot.

So to clear up the question (I'm not real fast sometimes). I smoked in the past, way past like 12-13 years ago. When that question comes up do I-

A. Lie about it and absolutely keep that fact to myself from now on or

B. Tell the truth and hope they don't hold it against me?

I'm thinking B is the correct answer but I am fully aware of how the past can bite you and sometime the truth does hurt.