Help trying to get back into trucking
 

Does anyone know how to to get back into thr trucking industry? I quit driving in 04 and went to colllege to get some degrees, they are not helping me get a job. Then I got deployed to Iraq for a year and just got back, this whole time I kept my CDL class A with T X endorsements (out of my own money). The problem is the trucking companies wont touch me because I have no RECENT driving experiance. I went to a truck driving school in 98 to get my class A and then started OTR till 03 then drove local till 04. Does anyone know how to get back into the industry? Thanks the Carb

You'd think at least having a degree and some military experience would give you some pull, a shame really.

You try any of the companies that take trainees?
Swift, Werner and all the big companies are usually the ones that will take anyone with a spotless driving record and put them through a retrain.

I got my CDL from CRST back in 08/2004, left them in 10/2004, and didn't get on with Swift until two years later with no driving experience between then.

What is/are your degree(s) in? Where do you live? What was your occupational specialty in the military?

Unfortunately, your degrees won't do you much good in this business unless you want to go into dispatching or management. I know some companies who hire dispatchers right out of college with no driving experience. Frankly, I think every dispatcher should be required to drive a truck for at least a year or two before being considered for a dispatching job. My guess is that you may need to go back for a refresher course before many carriers will hire you. There is a glut of drivers on the market and carriers are looking for drivers with more experience and good mvr's.

That's the primary reason I left Knight. They will not even consider a driver for advancement into dispatch/sales/CS/etc unless they have a degree but they'll take a wet behind the ears, recently weaned from mama's teet, kid right out of college, make them a dispatcher and put them in charge of drivers with years of experience. Makes zero since to me but oh well.

You're going to have to go through a refresher program as it stands right now, and truth be told, if a company won't take you and let you out with a trainer for a few weeks just to get back in the swing of things, you might want to consider a short refresher course at a CDL school. That at least shows a company you're dedicated and wanting to come back - I'd be honest with the recruiters and ask them if that would help. I've been off the road since 2007 when I went to work in-house, and I've had a hell of a time trying to get on with reputable outfits because of my lack of "recent experience" despite the fact I had been teaching new recruits how to drive a truck, doing road tests for orientation, and working in the safety department :roll3:

Hey tndieselgrl. Since you are now in Oklahoma are you going to change your handle to okdieselgrl? Or perhaps tnokdieselgrl? :cool:

:p

Actually, when I tried to get on here and my account got all boogered up, I signed up as 'okdieselgrl' since I'm not in Tennessee anymore (though we are actually looking at moving back one of these days...I miss the Smoky Mtns and the only reason we're in Oklahoma is because I worked at the main terminal for Arrow). I just didn't want to lose my signup date and post count :whistle:

We can merge two accounts together. There may be a way to get your old name back if you later decide to do that.

Ain't that the truth?

At least Swift and most of the other good companies were starting to use D/M's and dispatch that had some driving experience under the belt.

The last outfit I was at had dispatchers that were either former BestBuy employees, or from the "get a job or go to school" camp.

Regardless, all new employees to the officer environment of a transportation company should be required to spend 2-3 weeks over-the-road with a driver every so often during their duration.
This keeps the mind fresh and the "in-house" training centered.