2 felonies over 25 yrs ago, clean since; new cdl; prospects?
 

When I was 19 I stole some meat from a convention center and was charged with a felony. When I was 25 I knocked over a book case and broke my daughters arm and was charged with a felony, with an ugly name. I deeply regret these things and have lived in shame all of my life. I have went through anger management and extensive therapy, I am not the same immature anger prone boy that I was then. I am a grown, mature, mentally healthy man with a good work history. I have completely turned my life around, except financially. I have not been in a lick of trouble for twenty five years, those who know and love me and many in my community will tell you that I am a good decent man.

I am attending a driving school very soon. If anyone deserves a second chance in life it's me. I did not beat or molest, I didn't intend to hurt, I knocked over a bookshelf in a temper tantrum and hurt an innocent child.

Must I disclose this, it was so long ago? This is not something I care to discuss with a recruiter. Will I be recruited? I expect some of you will respond to call me names and put me down and damn me to hell, I've lived in shame for 25 years over this. I'm just hoping that a couple of you will understand that unfortunate things happen when you're in a fight with a mate and that people age, mature, get better and live normal productive lives.

That depends on the compaines application. If it states "Please list any felonies ever", Then yes. If they only want to know about the last 10-15 years, then no, BUT I would still disclose this since they will show up in a background check. Keep in mind that if you apply to any compaines that run into Canada, they may not hire you since you can not enter Canada if you have ever been convicted of a felony. 25 years is a long time and if your record has been clean since then, you may not have much of a problem. The big question is: How does the MVR look?

As for name calling and that, the past is the past. You made the mistake and learned your lesson. Best of luck.

Background Blemished
 

"attending a driving school very soon" You still have a chance to keep the horse ahead of the cart. Before you go to school, know who your first company will be. If necessary, have 'em guarantee you in writing, that after completing school and getting your CDL, you will be hired. Make sure they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, your record and that you'll work for them.
There've been too many cons post on this board that a school assured them they'd get hired following training, but a school does NOT hire drivers, trucking companies do. BOL

25 years is a long time. I'd call a few recruiters and be upfront and honest with them and see where it takes you. You only need one company to give you a shot.

I lost a drivers license when I was 18 for tickets, I've been completely clean for 25 years and I've talked to recruiters who said no and others who laughed at me for even bringing it up.

You've got 25 years of good solid performance and a few skeletons, you sound like a whole lot of drivers I know.

Good luck.

I will never say a nice thing about swift or werner
 

but I do know that one of my N/A friends had a felony and swifty hired them because of a clean mvr and letters from longtimers who knew him from the meetings

werner will usually hire you If you appear to have a pulse and a clean mvr

neither company pays well or gives great miles

But I do know that crete will hire werner drivers

pay your apprentice dues for a year if swifty or werener will hire you

on the merit that you are paying your own way for your cdl

I know c r england told me the day I graduated I had a job waiting.

But then the recruiter made a slip of the tongue about me not being able to attend their school

If I failed my cdl test inmy state

that cut their throat for me.

PUT your aps in

be honest and straight forward

and have a verifiable work history for the past 10 years

You will be asked to account for every period of unemployment in between those jobs

good luck

and if your a friend of bill

check out the last page of keys to the kingdom

page 312 in the 3rd edition

I will echo part of what has already been said.

Before attending CDL school make some calls to various trucking companies and explain your situation, back ground, etc, and find out if you would be eligible for hire with them once you get your CDL.

Your first job will be the hardest to find, and as others said it may not be with the best of training companies, but once you get that first year or two in other doors will open up.

As far as the Canada thing goes, it may be possible for you to still enter Canada. What you have to do is contact the Canadian government and apply for what is called a Ministers Permit. It is my understanding that there is a fee to apply for this permit that is non refundable, and the permit is only good for a couple of years, but if you can get one it would help with your hiring prospects. I do not know the exact details of what the qualifications are to get this permit, so I can not tell you if you are likely to be granted one or not.

I don't come into this forum too often so PM me if you need more answers.

If you have been good for that period of time you can go to the clerk of courts and file a motion to get your past record sealed. I don't see any reason the judge won't do it. It's pretty simple. After your file is sealed, the only people who will be able to see it is a judge if your in trouble again. Not even the police will see your past record if they pull you over.

You will get a court date. Just show up, clean cut, shirt and tie and state your case to the judge that it effects your getting a job.

I have a friend who got a DWI over 25 years ago and he just had his file sealed.

I was beginning to think I was the only one here that knew that... :wink:

Big Brother is watching
 

I had two potential felony arrests 40 years ago in another state. That's right, I'm an older guy. Probation before verdict on both. Servred probation sucessfully for both. Well, it did show up on my backround check. Well guess what. Entities such as trucking companies reguard that as a CONVICTION!!! So, when applying; On the 'have you been convicted of a felony' question; if there is no cut off time like "in last ten years"; you may as well wrap it up and move on. This was the case with me just this week with a company that paints their trucks an orange color.

More info
 

After submitting the last post I thought of expungement. The charges I had were (are) in Maryland. Well as it turns out one action is not enough by any means. One has to have state, court and police records cleaned seperately. Then there are the other independent agencies that already have your records. Then there is the FEDS. The FBI will NEVER totally erase your records. Money talks in every arena. So if someone has enough money and knows who to call, you can just about forget. I am not saying it's impossible; but it will be very expensive to clean records everywhere.
Of course that's just MY opinion. :x

Just as Stevebooth stated, I also have direct knowledge that you can have your record sealed, if you've behaved like a law abiding citizen for the past 20 years or so.

Sealed records
 

You say it is possible to have records sealed. Well that may be true. However since there are several entities that may already have this information; I can't believe all the 'cracks' will be filled. Hope you are right.

The Feds can always get access but they still need authorization to unlock the files. Only a judge can allow them to be seen. For the purposes of driving a truck or even working in a day care, nobody will ever find out.

I would suggest getting a short above the ear haircut, no beard, no mustache , jacket and tie. Hands clasped in front of you all the time and yes your honor and no your honor. This all shows great respect for the judge. I don't see any reason why the judge won't seal your record in less than 5 minutes.

There's always a scumbag at the place you apply to who knows a cop, and he'll have the cop look all the new guys up in the national database, and yes, he (or she) will tell everyone whatever they find, sealed or not. Every company with more than a few employees has a scumbag dedicated to finding out whatever dirt there is on any newcomers.

Not saying you will be fired if they uncover "sealed" information, since the HR guy knows it is sealed, and he's not supposed to know it, and might not confront you with the "sealed" info, but the scumbag will make sure everyone knows your past.

Clearing Your Record
 

Depending on your state, you may be able to get your convictions expunged. Commonly referred to as "set aside", expungment clears the crime from your CCH (Combined Criminal History) for the state that you were convicted in. If you've ever been arrested (in any state) for anything higher than a Violation (i.e. Misdemeanor or Felony), it will be on your CCH. If you were not convicted it will only show up as an arrest, not a conviction. The arrests with no conviction cannot legally be used against you in any way.

Once it is cleared off your CCH, no private company, local, county or state law enforcement agency can find it on an initial records check. It will still be in the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) computers, but that never goes away. It gets sent to the NCIC center for crime statistics reporting and then becomes property of the federal gov't. The good thing is it can take up to a year or more for the federal NCIC results to come back, and the only people that can request that info are criminal justice agencies.

Some of the problems that might come up depend on the degree of felony you were convicted of. Take my state (Oregon) for example. There are 3 kinds of felonies in Oregon, class A, class B, and class C (A is the worst). In Oregon, you can only get a class C felony expunged, due to the fact that a Class C felony can be punished alternatively as a Class A misdemeanor. Class A and Class B are permanent no matter what. I'm not sure what state you were convicted in, but I suggest checking on the laws pertaining to expungment in your respective courts. You will probably be able to get the help you need by contacting your closest state court's office. If you want to pay for the assistance, there's a few place on the net to find help, for example www.clearmyrecord.com . I'd just contact your court though, much cheaper and usually quicker. They will at least be able to tell you if you qualify for record expungment or not.

One more thing. If you do get your state record expunged, check with the local agency and county that you were arrested by. They will possibly have the records still in existance on their own system or in hard files. They should be notified by the state court, but I'd check anyway. Once you get notice that your conviction has been expunged, request a copy of your CCH (combined criminal history), which is usually available through the state police for a fee. You should be able to see if it's been cleared or not.

This process is usually slow, but it's the norm in most states. It won't go away overnight, but you will have the peace of mind provided by knowing that it is gone from your criminal history.

And before someone chimes in with some sarcastic comment about how the information I've given is not right I'll let you know that I work in law-enforcement. I have been a dispatcher working extensively with the LEDS and NCIC databases, and am now a deputy sheriff. I deal with CCH's (almost daily) and answer expungment questions quite a bit.

I hope the information helps you and anyone else looking to clean up mistakes from their past. I don't believe that something you did 25 years ago when you were a different person should have negative effects on your success today. Good luck.

West_Coaster

Be honest like everyone else is saying and upfront so when you are there for oreientation they already know about it because if you lie thats the fastest way lose employment. even if the company only wants to know the last 10 years and you put down that it actually might be good on your part showing the company you are being honest with them from the start and you will continue to be honest with them. also with the felony that old and a spotless record since i think alot of companys would over look that and you should be able to hire onto almost any good company out there. even though you wont be able to get into Canada, most companys have other drivers who can go so you wont have to worry about it
keep your head up and best of luck in driving school dont be afraid to ask lots of questions to your instructors or in here