x felon
 

recently i got laid off from my job in printing,a trade in witch i have been involved for nearly 30 years now,sitting home bored on unemployment for the past couple weeks i decided to look into driving a truck OTR sounds good to me, i am a hard working SOB and since i am divorced and the kids are grown i can afford to be out on the road a long as it takes,anyway i filled out an online application with a school called driver solutions,and when i did i lied on the part that asked about the felonies and said no i never had any,
so the guy from the school calls back and says he did a background check and i am all clear and all i need to do is get myself to saint louis to go to school for 3 weeks {i live in Chicago} i figured they only go back so many years probably 7 and sence i havent been in any kind of trouble in 15
years or so that i was good to go,as my departure date got closer i got worried so i did a little background check of my own on myself, and BAMM....
bigger than $h! there it was took less than 5 min. so i half to assume that the guy at the school didnt do any background checking and he was going to get
to sign a contract for 5k then get me down there and send me home when the school did ,so even if i didnt pay the school could just sell the dept to
to a collection agent so they are covered ether way ..understandably trucking companies want drivers with clean records and i am sure the reason is there is just to much at stake, that truck with a full load could be worth many millions of $$$ not only that but also the account could be worth many many millions$$$ to the company, not to mention the insurance premiums...so i took some time and thought it out and decided i WONT be taking that 5000$ vacation to saint louis ...yea it kind of bums me out if anyone knew me they would know an honest hard working guy i wouldn't care is that truck was stuffed with cash,i would drop off rite where i was told to every time without fail , anyhoo i am still interested in driving a truck i am going to try another approach,what i would like to do is try to get a company to hire me first knowing my background then go to school, that way i know i got a job when i am done, i know that my chances are slim because first it would half to be a company that i want
to work for long term i don't want to bounce around from job to job
i am just to old for that crap..

thanks for the listen


yakman....out

Depending on what your conviction is for, how long ago it was and how long ago you completed any prison sentence and parole/probation it is possible to work as an OTR driver.

Before going to school however what you need to do is call around and talk to some companies that hire students. Be honest with them about your background and see if they would be willing to offer up a job once you got your CDL. If they say yes then be sure to ask them what their requirements are for school.

Yakman: Don't give up!! I would say PM me, but you CAN'T with only one post! If you are willing to post your email addy, I'll get back to ya! I'm not posting MINE, :lol: Or even sending it to ya in a PM!

Things are not ALWAYS as they seem!! I firmly believe that some companies can pull a criminal background check that will satisfy their INSURANCE company, and may not show anything THAT old! Besides.... there are companies out there that will HIRE exfelons! (I'm NOT one, but I know this from this forum.)

I can't remember which company Driver Solutions is a "front" for, but it's one of the MEGA-carriers! There are other ways of getting your CDL (through and independant school,) and then getting hired for a training period with almost ANY company! And there are always smaller companies, (or Owner Operators) with more "liberal" insurance companies, that have some lattitude in who they hire!

Your personal situation seems perfect. I don't see any reason why you can't get into trucking, if you WANT to! (could depend on what the felony was.)

Your "hesitation" is well advised! Don't make the mistakes so many have made! But, you sound smart enough not to do so! If you are not "desperate" for a job.... you can play this out to your advantage!

DON'T send anymore applications out, or do anymore lying, until you know ALL the facts! (The walls have ears.... DAC!) And don't listen to those selfrighteous butts on here that will tell you we don't NEED YOU in trucking! :lol: I believe everyone deserves a second chance!

As a general rule, your smaller companies, maybe family owned, that you would WANT to stay with, can do much better for you on the insurance/criminal background issue! The Mega-carriers may be "comfortable" with (and largely RESPONSIBLE FOR) the high turnover rate in this industry.... but Mom and Pops ain't got TIME for that CHIT!!!

It's obvious, you've done your homework, or you wouldn't even KNOW about "getting sent home!" That is a good sign of INTELLIGENCE!

I'm in your corner, bud! And you've come to the right place! Now, TRUST us.... and give us a bit more information! There are enough WUSSIES in this business today! I'll do what I can to help someone who didn't ONCE say he was SCARED to DO this!

Hobo

Sorry, computer ate my homework!! :roll: :wink:

You can go through schneider they will send you to there school.they will interview you and run your back ground check before you go there. Or what Im doing is going to MTI (millis transfer)you can send them 100 bucks to run your back ground they go back 5 years.then you give them 400 for 3 weeks of school then you go out otr with a trainer they pay you for that . when you start working for them its 20 bucks a week 100 weeks or 2000 bucks. They seem like a good company to start with. Good luck

Many carriers will give an ex felon another chance after 5-10 years have passed. Again, it depends on the offense. Drug offenses are particularly difficult to overcome in this industry. If you have kept your record clean since you had your problems, then I would think that you could find suitable employment. There are a few recruiters on this board who could best address your questions. Sheepdancer and Twilight Flyer are recruiters. There are others on the board. If you check the company listings on the top of this page, you will find a list of some of the larger carriers. There basic requirements are listed. I would contact them and see what they can do for you. There are several training carriers around. Swift, Roehl, Schneider, Millis are a few who train those without experience, if that is the way you want to go. Personally, I think it would be best to pay for your own school, but it is another option for you. Good luck.

Double post. I hate it when I repeat myself. :oops: :lol:

Thanks guys :) your words of encouragement mean a grate deal to me
and have helped bring back some hope, what i did was pretty bad and i am very sorry and ashamed of it even today,but i cant take it back, i wish i could but i cant.... i could just say it was forgery,and leave it at that....but it wasent forgery it was counterfeiting, i was printing 100$ us notes and spending it on everything from prostitutes to trips to las vegas wild spending sprees on anything i wanted giving thousands in funny money away to homeless pepole
from all over...even then i knew what i was doing was wrong and it was only a matter of time before i was caught , law enforcement is very good at what they do and they defiantly caught my ***** the only reason it took so long is i kept moving, as i remember it wasn't very fun, it in fact was very hard to enjoy the money alone and paranoid of my own shadow i also remember feeling guilty as all hell about the whole thing and wishing to god i had it to do over, i think that is why i was giving money to homeless people the way i was it made me feel just a little better about it, i still hang my head in shame over it,as an American printer i not only dishonored myself but my father too ,,the sound of that steel on steel cell door slamming shut still to this day haunts my soul ,i learned the hard way..today is a new day for me i am so honest its sick.. lol EVERTHING i own today i worked my ***** of for if it isn't mine i dont want it ,period<---
and thats is just the way it is., i walk a straight line i dont drink i dont use
drugs the reason for that other than the obvious "they will through the key away" i feel good about doing the right thing, i....anyway they still let me print why in hell cant i drive a truck ? i am a good man and i really want to drive a truck damit :)

well by the way it sounds you learn your lesson. I think everyone needs a 2nd chance. we all make mistakes just some are bigger then others. I wish you the best of luck.

Yakman, as a suggestion, when you post your email address on the web, do it like this:

yakman(at)sbglobal(dot)net

That way your intended recipient will get it but the automated spammer scans won't pick it up.