My son was 18 and became a felon,never did prison time thank God.Did finish high school but does not want to go to any other schools.He does seem interested in the CDL school I told him about.He will be 21 in October.Will the trucking industry be open to him?It does not matter if he get,s a class A or a B,just so he can make a decent living.He live's in New Jersey.I think after 5 year's and lot's of cash I can have it removed from his record,I hope.

My 2 cents...I have seen a few companies that will work with felons that are 5-10 years old. I know after 9-11 violent felons are viewed more closely.

If you can get the record expunged then there is some hope, though at 21 his job choices are going to be limited. Most OTR companies will not hire under 23 or 25. This of course is assuming his driving record is 100% clean and that what ever school he goes to is acceptable by the companies he would be interested in hiring on with.

If you can not get the crimminal record expunged then you are looking at around 10 years from date of conviction before most OTR companies will even consider hiring. At that point his only hope may be driving a trash truck locally.

Before sending him off to school for his CDL my advice is to:

First see if you can get his record cleared.
Second talk to companies and see who would be willing to hire him and what they require for hire.

Rule number one nowadays seems to be; "if all else fails.... one can ALWAYS be a Truckdriver". Seems that the industry is rapidly becoming a dumping ground and where people down on their luck and out of options "end up" or turn too...

I agree 100% here.

Make sure he knows what he's getting into. Do ALOT of research and let him make a well informed decision because trucking isn't for everyone and it could end up being a colossal waste of money!

Ok....what did he do? This is what most, if not all, employers will ask. Some crimes can be overlooked, others never will. Keep this in mind.

Usually in order for a felony to be expunged it must be the only conviction on a record, no misdemeanors or other convictions. At least here in FL any violent felony is not expungable, it's on your record for life. Given that he was 18 and didn't go to prison, it's possible that technically he may not be a felon at all. If adjudication was withheld and he successfully served a probation period he could get a letter from the clerk of the court stating he is not a felon. He should answer all questions truthfully like "have you ever been charged with a felony", but bring documents that show that he didn't recieve a DOC #, lose his right to vote, lose his right to own a firearm, to any potential employer.