Profile For Maxwell P.

In NJ it is actually illegal to speak to the solicitors or prosecutors. Your time for discussion is court or a lawyer. If they told u something, you could claim rhey lied or intimidated you. It is for your protection also. What if they made u a deal you dont understand?

Most companies wont take 15 over. It is reckless driving.

I agree with PJ.... you made a choice. And yet, it is the cops fault or the drivers fault. Question... hpw close were you to the driver? I often brake and slow down when jerks are tailgating me. I hope they will pass.

I wasn't tailgating him by any means, it was a 30 mph road that was pulling into a town so I was close but not 'close' if you get what I'm saying, like there is no way he couldn't see the headlight of my bike as I was riding behind him.

I rode and raced motorcycles for many years, and I've had several high speed tickets on them, allegedly. Explanations are irrelevant. Not saying it to be mean, it's just reality.

One way or another find a way to pay for an attorney. It's that simple. Otherwise you're unhireable. You're not a cdl holder yet, so masking laws aren't applicable.

Sadly a lawyer is simply out of the question for me, I attempted to call over 9 lawyers in not only my local town, but the county in which this incident transpired. They all want 1200+ and I have 349 in my bank account, so I simply cannot do that.

Hello Max. Those citations will make it extremely difficult for you to enter the profession, especially when there is a surplus of drivers. You might have killed your career before it has started.

Just for what it’s worth, your explanation of the circumstances makes it even worse. If you were driving a truck and getting brake checked you would be expected to drop back and let the other vehicle get far away from you. Passing only made it worse than it had to be. So if you gave that explanation in a job interview they would conclude you had very poor judgement besides the citations.

Also, most companies, to my knowledge, consider 15 MPH+ over as reckless driving, so maybe you can throw yourself at the mercy of the court and hope for a miracle to get that speeding number reduced to less than 15.

I wish I could offer more encouragement to you , but you have put yourself in a very difficult position. Start considering a driving job that only requires a class B license or a box truck delivery job. Do that for 3 years or so until you establish a good record and stable employment history.

For what it's worth I only did that maneuver on a motorcycle because I was on a motorcycle, I would never of attempted such a thing in a large truck, or even in a passenger vehicle. I understand it was not the right call but it's the call I made. I am going to have to go to court it seems since I can't get ahold of the damn solicitor and am going to plead nolo contendere and hope I can get reduced sentencing. Having a clean driving record for 11 years I'm going to be devastated if I cannot start my profession for another 3 years because some dude with a chip on his shoulder decided to try and commit insurance fraud with me.. :/ Prime said it couldn't be anything more than 19 mph over, but I'll try and plead it down to 14 on my court date when I finally get to talk with the solicitor, it absolutely baffles me this government official has no method of contact other than emailing and she never checks her emails.. -_-

Hello everyone and thankyou for taking the time to read this.. (NOT ASKING LEGAL ADVICE BTW)

I'm in a bit of a situation here, I recently moved to Georgia to live with my mother while training for my CDL permit, I currently have passed 2 of the tests for said permit but the office I was at ran out of time and needed to close so they ended my general knowledge test early. I can go back in later to finish it though without having to retake my Combination Vehicle or Air Brakes tests.

The bind I am in is I recently got pulled over and issues two citations, one for 49 in a 25, and the other for failure to maintain lane, these are my first citations in 11 years and I only received said citations as I made the decision to pass a passenger truck that had brake checked me multiple times on my motorcycle, almost causing me to rear end him repeatedly. I did the maneuver to pass him on a 2 lane road and was by no means using the "49" alleged speed as a cruising speed on the road, of course an officer saw me do this pass but failed to notice the truck repeatedly brake checking me.. Either way, I explained to said officer what transpired to cause me to do such a thing in which he then proceeded to give me said tickets and also lie on one stating I made a vehicle in the left lane I passed in brake hard but the closest vehicle in that lane when I merged was easily 2 car lengths back so I do not believe the officers testimony against me.

I have yet to have my court date and have REPEATEDLY attempted to contact the solicitor for the county as I do not have the funds to hire a lawyer, but she not only does NOT have a number to contact her through, I went to the courthouse to try and speak with her, and sent NUMEROUS emails so explain the situation and that I never would of made such a move if I wasn't in fear of my safety, I've yet to hear anything back after a week and apparently she is out of the office for the next 6 days.. I am attempting to use the Georgia "First Offense" or "Second Chance Law" (Their one in the same but technically different depending on the offense), or get a deferred sentencing on at least the speeding infraction. I wanted to try and get the situation resolved before the court date as I am TRYING to get my life in gear. Georgia is weird where you do not have a standard DOT but a department called the DDS that handles what you'd typically do for drivers license and such, they also manage the documentation for all citations after you've been marked guilty or no contest.

ALL traffic violations in Georgia are misdemeanors and apparently will give me a criminal record, on top of having it on my driving record for 2 separate moving violations if I cannot plea these citations down. I was originally going to go with Prime but was just informed that I cannot have more than 2 moving violations, which I wouldn't, but that the speeding infraction would have to be AT MOST 19 over where mine is 29 over. (Again, this was simply to pass the truck quickly and efficiently, I was accelerating for less than a block and a half in order to get by them, bikes accelerate QUICK.) I pulled over immediately when I saw the officer, tossed my key on the ground, and complied while explaining why I did what I did only to get slapped with the book even though I could of easily ran and split between cars, not saying I condone that but just saying I COULD of, doing the right thing pays off right......?

Anyways, what I'm asking for after explaining the situation is I need to know what truck companies would be willing to hire someone with a 'record' who only has a permit, Prime said I'd have to wait 3 years before I could start trucking if I couldn't get the speeding ticket down to 19 over, and most every other company I apply with gets ****y with me because I don't have a solid 10 years of employment history, I helped care for family members in North Carolina before moving to GA to be with my mother. I'm just at a loss right now and looking for a little guidance from people that may of already gone through something similar, or may be able to give me insight on some more lenient companies that would train a new driver with their permit but with recent traffic infractions on record.

Thankyou so much in advance, Max.

You must have Prime Inc confused with Amazon Prime. Prime Inc has awesome trucks and trailers. We just talked about how we even have custom decals themes like transformers and datr wars... at cost of course. Amazon Prime is a lot of owner ops.with older equipment.

If you read what i said about turning the truck in... you would see i said it isnt possible every home time. It takes a lot of time and man power to clean and reassign trucks. But for instance.. my mom died. So i took a month off and traded my truck in.

When it comes to your medicine... are u saying u need a doctor visit or u need to go home or what? Prime has a doctors office in the terminal. And most companies have a mail room u can get things shipped to u. I am not trying to get personal... but why fo u need 2 weeks off for meds? The company legally has to get u home for a doctor. But not 2 weeks.

Honestly... u are trying to make plans in an industry you know nothing about. 3 months OTR is exhausting... even for experienced drivers. I know people who came in here saying "me and my wife are going to run 7000 miles a week doing all drop and hook, and im gonna get my CDl by 9/15, finish training by 11/15 then be running with my wife by 11/16. Didnt happened. No where near it.

Well you see that's why I'm asking and getting information about it. I don't mind the being out for long periods of time and I like to work given I don't have someone constantly harassing and attacking me at every turn like at most jobs, that's why I liked the IT thing I was doing for a long while there but the work itself just got insanely stale... I figured 2 weeks home to be able to manage my appointments and such, I'm not sure how it is with the company doctor or even doctors that are associated with the trucking industry but my doctor I currently have I have to schedule an appointment nearly a month in advance to see them. It's not that I don't mind divulging the information but it just seems weird to be so open with strangers about my ailments, let's just say it's an 'infectious disease' that requires constant medication. I don't NEED a constant 2 weeks off but I typically go in for bloodwork, then get another appointment the following week to see the results in person with the doctor, though my current doctor has been willing to do tele-health calls to give me the information which has been nice. Realistically the 2 weeks off at a time was a bit of a stretch but that is what my father was doing, he was O/O but contracted with multiple companies so I was just going off what I knew from what he did, I know the O/O plays part in it but I didn't realize he had THAT much control over his own off time. The guidance is appreciated from you thus far! I don't play on doing 7k miles a week, hell I'd be lucky to find myself doing 3,500 to start just to ensure I'm easing into it and not rushing or being unsafe. If the powersports mechanic position taught me anything is that rushing leads to injuries, A LOT of injuries. They were small ones granted, but having little cuts and gashes in my hands from say a wrench slipping off an axel nut and I bash my knuckles into a dirt bike sprocket did not feel the greatest for 3 weeks......

And when the bragging O/O's or lease drivers try and brag on how much big bucks they make, ask to see their tax returns lol. Ya won't even get a peek, just excuses lol......The occupation, is like any other, you get out of it, what you put in. The grass is seldom greener on the other side of the fence, like some like to believe. Just let all the BS go thru 1 ear, and out the other from the other wanna-be "super truckers"

My thoughts on this post were eerily like Kersey’s. Lol

What she said cuts right to the point. I might add the obvious, that you haven’t even got started and thusly don’t even know enough to chart your course. It’s a step by step process and like Kersey said, you may like your first company and stay with them. Get the preconceived ideas out of your head because as you progress you will develop a plan as you experience what you like and what you don’t like.

And be very skeptical of the Owner Operators, as was stated. They are a very independent lot and usually think they are much superior to company drivers. But they flame out just as company drivers can if they get ahead of themselves. (Except PJ, lol)

Yeah honestly my biggest fear with the thought of being an O/O would be the risk of downtime with the truck, I would ASSUME just based off thinking about it in my head since Diesel Mechanics are in short supply, you may have a down time of around a month to 3 at a time depending on what's going on. Their tax bracket is going to be WAY higher but they also do get more tax breaks for business expenses, the fuel expenses, maintenance that THEY have to do even while on the road (I bet these are the guys who leave 6 whole used oil jug containers of old oil in the Walmart parking lots), and have to worry about their own insurance rates which must be sky high.

I find the company-driver perks personally outweigh the O/O perks since O/O truckers are pulling 100+ hours a week if you include all the back-end crap they have to do nonstop, it SEEMS like there is no 'off' switch for that kinda life unless they decide to take 3 months off at a time like the one O/O I was talking to explained to me.

Absolutely wrong. As you earn your respect, you grow in power. Companies want to make good drivers happy and keep them. By changing companies, you constantly have to keep starting from the bottom and proving yourself all over again. However, when you stay at one company and make yourself known with amazing peformance, more and more perks get handed to you.

Example... i make 19cpm more plus bonuses than someone just coming into prime. Why? Without trying to sound arrogant.. i am THAT good and thry know it.

The owner and vice president of my mega carrier know me by name and sight and approach me at events. Make tge company look good and get everything you want.

Heres a nugget for you... some owner ops are such because no one else will hire them. I know several drivers who had to buy their own trucks and run under their own authority because all they didnwas argue with dispatch or hop from company to company.

You know you bringing that up actually makes me question something about starting with Swift.. I wanted to go for about 2 1/2 to 3 months at a time stints out on the road then have 12-13 days off before going back out for another 3 months. This would make it really easy for me to get my medication delivery scheduling set up and keep track of it. But swift told me that they only do 4 days off at a time maximum since they 'lose money on the truck' if it sits for longer than that, and they don't /really/ offer extended time off. If you are saying that Prime allows you to return the truck, stay on payrole for insurance, and have 2 weeks off at a time, then that puts my interest MASSIVLY into swing for Prime specifically. Honestly I didn't even think of Prime as a carrier to start with, I thought it was mainly like Swift, Schneider, Hunt, and King that do the onboarding and training of new people. To be honest whenever I saw a prime truck prior (I wasn't REALLY looking at them, but still) the truck and trailers always looked kinda... Run down? I didn't even realize they were a massive carrier, maybe just did east-coast stuff.

Theres a lot here so i will get into it more when I stop. Yes, some companies will let you bring your wife. Yes, many companies will allow you to take home time all over the country

No, you don't get one to two weeks off. Most companies do a earn 1 day for every week out... but some will limit how many days you can take off straight. Example... prime only allows 5 days off "officially". prime will let you take up to 29 days off, but you need to turn in your truck and get another upon return. Therefore this wouldn't be every home time. As you earn time, ut may be possible to make other arrangments, but it deoends on hoe good yiu are.

Why would you change companies after a year? I have been here 8.5 years. Old School has been at Knight for what seems like forever. Lots of us stay at one company.

Was told by an O/O that I should look into new companies and new prospects every year to two years for better pay growth since good drivers are in high demand and as my experience goes up with safe miles I could get more by swapping instead of trying to grind out the promotion/raise ladder. Just what I was told at least.

Hello everyone, I'm a 28 year old guy who has thrown his hat into motorcross, powersports mechanical repair, Information Technology, Food industry, Factory work and oil field related jobs.

I'm looking into getting into trucking as an actual proper career as those previous forms of employment never really felt fulfilling, Motorcross was too competitive with high risks of injury but fun as hell, being the powersports mechanic netted me 16-17 dollars an hour on average for back breaking work, In IT I was making around 28 an hour but the jobs were so absolutely mind numbingly stupid and tedious, I don't have to explain why I left the Food industry, Factory work hours were too long on my feet/like 12 hours straight pretty much as they were 13 hour shifts, and the oil field work I did was so boring I was falling asleep sitting in a tanker truck just waiting for something to happen half the time, was getting paid 21 an hour though so it was 'easy' money.

I'm looking for something fulfilling in life where I can make absolute bank and explore the country to see how each state feels for when I decide to settle down somewhere one day, I've lived in 5 states thus far in my life and none of them felt like 'home' really...

My idea is to get in with a trucking company for training, then hop to another company after my training/contract period has ended, and drive full time OTR so I don't need a residence, and that's an important part for me. I want to store everything I own at my mothers house in a shed I'll purchase, have my residence set to her address, and live OTR in the truck. The way I see it is I'll be saving TONS of money doing it this way since I won't need a car payment, utility payment, rent payment, home repairs, ect.. The questions I have are as follows..

-Can I bring my wife with me in the truck for long hauls? She is very interested in the concept and wants to 'get out there' as much as I do. -What can I realistically expect for pay my first year or two (Swift says around 66k for reefer which I am going for to start), I am quick to pick things up, have manual transmission experience, have driven large vehicles in the past, and have mechanical aptitude. I see some people saying 32k a year starting and others saying if you break your ass driving and getting at it you can make upwards of 70ish thousand realistically, little less or little more. -What would be a good specialization to move into for trucking, such as hazmat for example, or should I just attempt to get as many endorsements as I can, I'm thinking Tanker longterm.. -When you 'go home for your week/2 weeks after long months', can you just go somewhere else in the country for that time with the truck instead? Do YOU pay for the gas to do that or does the companies gas card cover this expense? This would give me and my wife chances to explore different states to move to later. -What are some of the better companies to train into, I hear schneider is good but the pay is AWEFUL, Swift is 'okay' but there is a stigma, ect... -Any other things I should be looking into for this? I'd be looking to do about 2 1/2 to 3 month stints at a time since I am on life-critical medication and currently can only get a 3 month supply at a time for it.

Thanks you all from the bottom of my heart for your wisdom and experience you may be willing to impart upon me, in this world we live in today I have 'life experience' but still feel so lost on how to actually make good money and not want to close my eyes into oncoming traffic, I feel getting to actually be with my wife more often than not since she currently lives a state away due to medical reasons with her family, would give me a lot of peace and being young with someone who wants to travel with me/save the same money I listed before like rent/utilities/ect make up for the fact she will not be employed at the time of me working for the next 4-5 years. We've both agreed she kinda 'can't' work for the most part, and I really don't want her to if I'm being honest, I want her to focus more on us and not get used to employment full time since we want to have a kid in 5-6 years when I transfer from OTR to a local driver. Thanks again!

(Been reading through the career guide, good information thus far but would like some more personalized responses and experiences, hence the questions above haha.)