Wanna be driver, with question
 

First of all im 24, and would like nuthing more to drive a truck and see the U.S. I have no kids, no wife, nor am I involved with anyone, so I would think right now would be a great time to start. Im a Computer tech and i hate settingin a office, working on these things. But my question is when I was 21 I got a DWI, that was 3years ago sence then I have paid my fine and ect. and got my regular Lic reinstated. My question is, is having that on my record going to keep me from getting a CDL and Trucking career? Please discuss. and thanks in advance for all your input. :?

Most companies want a 5 year span of clean driving since the DUI.

You say most look for 5years clean record, so not all hope is lost then? or am i just being hopful.

After 5 years you have a chance, but it is still going to be a major obstacle.

Thanks for your help guys.

MANY companies only require a 3 year period since the conviction date. However, SOME companies also require a 3 year period since reinstatement of your license.

If you did your classes right away, and got your license back "right away," and you find a company that only wants to see a 3 year MVR, and it has been 3 years since you got your licence back.... you will have a clean MVR, and as good a chance as MOST.

Fill out an app on the link on this site. Say it has been 3 years, and see who responds.

Then go looking/calling for smaller companies that don't have such tight restrictions, and see what they say. I would NOT sit and wait another two years before attempting to get a job, if that is what you want to do.

I DO hope your "problems" are behind you, and your record is otherwise clean. I also hope you realize that you would be entering into a profession where the standards are much higher than normal, and you need to protect your CDL (once you get it) at all costs from here on out. MORE than ONE of these "mistakes" in your history, could be FATAL to a driving career.

Best of luck to you.

You're currently a Computer Tech, and now you wanna do this crap? Why?

Computers: Learn new programming languages, learn networking skills, web development, ect...ect. Treated like a skilled professional with lots of upside for new, interesting training and more salary.
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Truck driving: Dime-a-Dozen-Diesel-Dummy. Basically treated like shit by most employers and dispatchers. All they care about is impressing and ass kissing the greedy owner(s), who's usually never there and pulling in $100,000++, while they pay you f'n peanuts. As soon as they can figure out a way to get those wetbacks up here and driving cross-country, they'll pretend to actually care.

Asshole customers who act like they never ordered the freight on your truck; who could care less about making you wait forever, or complaining to your BOSS if something isn't PERFECT with the delivery.

Dumbass fellow motorists.

Shit weather.

Unsafe equipment: You need a paycheck? Better hop in and drive and just pray DOT doesn't pull you over, or the inevitable mechanical failture doesn't happen until you can get to the shop.
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I've been doing this for 11 yrs., mostly LTL. Stay out of it unless you want to wake up one day hating it, realizing your too old to do anything else; and if you have go through another truck company interview, where some suit-and-tie asshole blows more smoke up your ass-you're probably gonna f'n snap.

I know many reasons for wanting to leave the computer industry. Before I got into driving, I was also a computer tech.--more on the hardware side. And let me tell you this. You don't have to know much to repair computers. The basic 10-14 parts make up your system, most are now integrated into the motherboard. Any single part go wrong, just replace it. No more board level repair...And it hasn't been there for a while. And as you go into Best Buy, Frys Electronics, or any computer shop, the tech they have make around 8-10 per hour. They don't make the 35-75 per hour that everybody thinks they do. And the only time I made that was on house calls. I have had my own shop from May 1996 to Nov. 1999, and closed it down due to the flood of parts about to be released from Taiwan. I was also burnt out, tired of stupid customers deleting files, and then wondering why their computer wasn't working. A lot of friends I had in the D/FW area have also closed their doors, and went on to different things.

Being a computer tech is not the glamorous job ITT makes it out to be. I'd rather drive a truck, and act like that stupid truck driver you make us out to be. :wink:

BTW....my current boss wanted me to repair his system...up untill I told him $75 per hour, min. of 2 hours. He actually thought I would do it for free.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Did you do it? I used to give my old boss freebies, but one day he said "You know, you can't keep coming over here and doing this for free. What do I owe you?"

When he finally got me to quote him a figure, he wrote me a check for the $500 he owed me, which was about 1/3 of what I really should have charged, and he never asked me to look at a computer again after that. For some reason.

I agree with those of you who say it isn't as glamorous as it sounds, but the main thing for me is the lack of money. I really love playing with computer problems, but there's no way to make a living at it. Everybody wants your sage advice until you charge enough to run a viable business. I guess the bottom line is that computers are just too cheap. It's going to cost $1,000 to get this dealt with, or $400 for a brand new computer that's much faster, and will run for some time before I manage to get it all frigged up again. Uh, will you do the job for $100?

I can definitely relate to that sentiment. I have strong feelings of there being no good future ahead in this business. Every year, I make less money than I used to, relative to how much everything costs. You hit the top of the payscale early in a career, and the only way to get more money is to do more or more nasty work. There is no getting paid more for time served like there is in the real world. Not really. My wife started at Wally World at $5 an hour, and now makes $14, just a few cents an hour a year at a time. It adds up, but not in trucking. No matter who you drive for where, the pay just doesn't keep growing like that, staying in the same job, with the same company.

OTOH, once you've trucked at all, it seems you're largely screwed trying to find a job in the real world. I'm not too old at 35, but when I was out hunting for anything but another driving job, I got a lot of "you used to be a TRUCK DRIVER?" None of these people ever called for a second interview.

I have mixed feelings about my whole situation, which is painfully obvious to anyone who reads my tortured ramblings, but if one thing is certain, it is that I am really unhappy about not having any other viable choice. I have to keep trucking, or go completely bankrupt. The thing is, the only thing keeping me from going bankrupt as a truck driver is my wife's annual raise, which keeps up with the bills enough that my making smaller and smaller contributions every year (relative to inflation) doesn't upset the apple cart.

I don't know how you hands out here whose wives stay home manage to avoid going broke over a career. I really don't. Especially if you look at what a house cost in 1997 and what one costs today, for example.