What to do?

[P0rk Ch0p]

Well, I graduated CDL driving school in late August this year.

And have had HORRIBLE luck at finding a job. Mainly because of one ticket on my MVR ( reckless driving back in January 07)

Swift has already Pre-hired me, but they have been jerking me around on a orientation date. First, I was supposed to go to Atlanta on Sept 15th, that didn't happen, now they call me and tell me " sometime in January"

Covenant says they can hire me in January when my reckless driving becomes 3 yrs old due to insurance purposes.

That's all fine and dandy, but, it's not helping me right now. I am unemployed with no way to pay my 190 dollar a month driving school payment, and if i am 60 days late, the school can have my CDL revoked for non-payment. So i am really in a hard place here.

What do you guys think? Will my chances greatly improve when the ticket is 3 yrs old?

I've wanted to be a trucker ever since i took that first ride in one with my dad at 10 yrs old, I don't know what i'd do if this didn't work out for me..

[Malaki86]

First of all, they can't revoke your license for non-payment. The school doesn't control your license - the state does.

A reckless driving ticket is a very tough one. I got a reckless driving about 22 years ago and it STILL affects me.

[Mr. Ford95]

Are you for real? If you can't get a driving job then go do something else until you can get a driving job. No excuse for not being able to pay that bill when you can do another job.

[geeshock]

Well, try and work with swift since it DOES sound like they will at least work with you. I'll tell you the truth, that is a major ticket and you'll have a hard time finding anyone that will take you b4 3 years. If you already had some driveing exp I'd say look someplace local, even if it's seasonal work like me. Since you don't have prior exp, I'd say stck it out with swift for a year or 2

[BigDiesel]

Originally Posted by P0rk Ch0p

Well, I graduated CDL driving school in late August this year.

And have had HORRIBLE luck at finding a job. Mainly because of one ticket on my MVR ( reckless driving back in January 07)

Swift has already Pre-hired me, but they have been jerking me around on a orientation date. First, I was supposed to go to Atlanta on Sept 15th, that didn't happen, now they call me and tell me " sometime in January"

Covenant says they can hire me in January when my reckless driving becomes 3 yrs old due to insurance purposes.

That's all fine and dandy, but, it's not helping me right now. I am unemployed with no way to pay my 190 dollar a month driving school payment, and if i am 60 days late, the school can have my CDL revoked for non-payment. So i am really in a hard place here.

What do you guys think? Will my chances greatly improve when the ticket is 3 yrs old?

I've wanted to be a trucker ever since i took that first ride in one with my dad at 10 yrs old, I don't know what i'd do if this didn't work out for me..

Probably should have not put yourself in the position of receiving a reckless driving citation, since you wanted to be a trucker from the age of 10.......

There is always McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, KFC, Denny's as options.....

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by BigDiesel

Probably should have not put yourself in the position of receiving a reckless driving citation, since you wanted to be a trucker from the age of 10.......

There is always McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, KFC, Denny's as options.....

We've all got 20/20 hindsight,don't we. But, I'll bet your crystal ball is just as cloudy about the future as the rest of ours.

That said, I've never known BD to soften things over. Is it possible to get a driving job? Probably. But, that 3 years is a very real thing. The insurance companies have a strangle hold on this industry. They can nearly dictate who will drive and who won't. And, it's been that way for a while. If you have to do "day-labor" until the 3 years is over, that's what you will have to do. As stated earlier, 22 years later, it will still be affecting you job chances. And, in the future, things may get even harder. Up to now, many companies are saying that things like that must be at least 3 years old, but in the future, expect them to start saying "NON EVER", like a lot of them are saying about a DUI now. Don't expect the requirements on your driving record to relax. If anything, they are going to get tighter.

I'm guessing that at the time, you had no thought of the future. It's always the other guys that get caught. The reality of it all is, we all get our chances to be the "other guy". It also sounds like you didn't give much thought to the "timing" of going to school. Now, you're going to have to work much harder to get a job, and that also holds true for keeping your job. Expect to be passed over in favor of someone that does not have that on their record. Those of us that have completely clean or "no record" are out here, and we are your competition. Don't expect us to pass on a job so that you can get it. Some might, but others will not. You've made it far more tough on yourself than you needed to, and there's not going back to change anything. Poor choices lead to poor chances.

[P0rk Ch0p]

Thanks for the replies guys.

First, it's in the paper work from the driving school. They have power of attorney to " pull" my license for non-payment.. I'm making the payments, it's just hard.

Second, the ticket I got was pure BS. I won't bother to go into details, because most, if not all of you will say bla bla you're just making up excuses etc, But, I will say that it was nothing more than speeding ( 80 in a 65, that's only 15 over, 25 over is supposed to be reckless according to Alabama state law) And it also involved a jerk-off of a Alabama State Trooper. Tried, but couldn't get out of it.

As far as waiting out the 3 years, the 3 years will be up come January 20th 2010, so it's not too far off. And I was also told that the ticket should fall off my MVR completely in 5 years, according to the judge at court when I originally went to court for the ticket. Also, the ticket was not drug or alcohol related. I was just speeding, it's not like I was out street racing, etc etc. Absolutely no one was ever in any danger due to my driving.

Swift said they didn't care about my reckless driving ticket as long as it wasn't drug or alcohol related.. And Covenant said that they would hire me after the ticket was 3 yrs old, and they go by date of the offense. So, I guess I will be able to be hired with them come January. I hope.

If none of this works out, I don't know what I'll do. Back to the drawing board.

[freebirdrfd]

I alway thought that 15 over was driving to endanger

[P0rk Ch0p]

The officer himself said " 25 and over is reckless" then he said i was doing 80 in a 65, and handed me a reckless ticket..and i was like..but..80 is only 15 over, not 25. He just smirked and left... But whatever, it's in the past now. And the 3 yr mark is almost here. Hopefully then some jobs will open up.

[Glad Hand]

Since your dad is or was a truck driver it is hard for me to believe that you actually went to driving school knowing you had a reckless driving ticket that was less than 3 years old on your record. Either your dad didn’t care enough to tell you the score or you didn’t want to hear it. Either way you are lucky that you don’t have much longer to wait.

On top of it any school that would sign up a student knowing that they won’t be able to find a job when they graduate is unscrupulous as hell and you ought to tell them to stick their tuition payments up where the sun doesn’t shine or you will take them to court and expose them for being the rotten money grubbing shysters they are.

Finally, the way you blame the troopers who gave you the reckless driving ticket for your piss poor driving record is in all likelihood the way you will sound after you lose your trucking career in a few short months. Obviously, you will blame the trucking company who takes a chance and hires you and not yourself. Good luck.

[Kevin0915]

Originally Posted by P0rk Ch0p

Thanks for the replies guys.

First, it's in the paper work from the driving school. They have power of attorney to " pull" my license for non-payment.. I'm making the payments, it's just hard.

Second, the ticket I got was pure BS. I won't bother to go into details, because most, if not all of you will say bla bla you're just making up excuses etc, But, I will say that it was nothing more than speeding ( 80 in a 65, that's only 15 over, 25 over is supposed to be reckless according to Alabama state law) And it also involved a jerk-off of a Alabama State Trooper. Tried, but couldn't get out of it.

As far as waiting out the 3 years, the 3 years will be up come January 20th 2010, so it's not too far off. And I was also told that the ticket should fall off my MVR completely in 5 years, according to the judge at court when I originally went to court for the ticket. Also, the ticket was not drug or alcohol related. I was just speeding, it's not like I was out street racing, etc etc. Absolutely no one was ever in any danger due to my driving.

Swift said they didn't care about my reckless driving ticket as long as it wasn't drug or alcohol related.. And Covenant said that they would hire me after the ticket was 3 yrs old, and they go by date of the offense. So, I guess I will be able to be hired with them come January. I hope.

If none of this works out, I don't know what I'll do. Back to the drawing board.

again, like Maliki86 said, they can't touch your CDL since it is state issued. And anything the driving school tells you is just words on paper made to scare you.

I for one, would do one of two things. I'd call Covenant/Swift DAILY to keep the ball rolling. Squeeky wheel gets the oil. or 2nd...find a warehouse job loading/moving trailers, etc. and if i couldnt find a job like that, i'd find a job anywhere to pay that schooling bill.

[P0rk Ch0p]

Covenant says they can't tell me or do anything with me until the ticket is 3 yrs, so no need to call them daily.

But, Swift, every time i talk to that recruiter, he says something different. so who knows.

[P0rk Ch0p]

Just got off the phone with Stevens Transport and Trans-Am, both of them say once my ticket is 3 yrs old, to apply and I " Should" be ready to go.

[Justruckin]

Give it 3 years and a month, and you should be ok. But still no gaurantees. And I say that as a former small fleet owner.

[P0rk Ch0p]

I figure if none of the companies I talked to today will hire me in January or February, I will just keep making my CDL school payments, and find another line of work.

But so far, I have 5 companies who say to call them back in January on or after the date of offense, and they can get me in. :: prays::

[P0rk Ch0p]

I had been riding OTR with my dad for about a year, with Averitt, but he moved over to Estes and got him a local day job. So now I just sit at home lol

[GMAN]

Most states consider speeding 15 mph or more to be reckless driving. My insurance company will not cover any driver who receives a ticket that is 84 mph regardless of the posted speed limit. At one time what happened in your personal vehicle did not affect your CDL. It was reported differently. That is no longer the case. Anytime you receive a ticket it goes on your CDL regardless of what you were driving. You need to protect your CDL at all costs. As you have found out, all it takes is one ticket to mess up your career. Good luck.

[P0rk Ch0p]

Yeah, I didn't even have a CDL then.

But, they say it will fall off my MVR completely in 5 yrs, so about 2 more years and it's gone.

Until then, I gotta keep my nose clean. But I had never even been pulled over before that, or even after.

[mike3fan]

Originally Posted by Malaki86

I got a reckless driving about 22 years ago and it STILL affects me.

Couldn't you go to therapy?

[geeshock]

don't wait to long to find a job. If you do that schooling won't amount to a hill of beens