Profile For Skyler H.

---- After a while of doing this we'd gotten pretty serious in our relationship and were even considering getting married. She asked me to not go back and I foolishly agreed to stay and find work. She was always a big time stoner but it didn't bother me at all. It simply wasn't an option for me and it hadn't been for a long time. I did another summer doing concrete work before I started at Amazon full time. Things were going pretty well I guess at the time but I had a lot of difficulty adjusting to the boredom of shift work. I'm restless I guess. Or had become that way after spending so much out on the ocean. I think that ultimately lead to the downfall of our relationship. I just struggled to get used to the 9-5 lifestyle people tolerate nowadays. I worked at Amazon for about a year and a half before I finally changed my schedule to flex and started doing concrete again whenever the weather was well enough. I hadn't smoked in quite a long time at this point but Amazon has a no thc testing policy and I certainly wasn't expecting to get tested from my concrete company. So I smoked a little bit here and there thinking it might calm me down and id be better at this boring lifestyle. It never did and I quit again after a little while. Things started not working out at home and I'd realized my girl just didn't share the same level of ambition or drive that kept me moving for years. We ended up breaking up the beginning of this year and during the shuffle I smoked some more weed. Still never worked for me like I'd hoped and I definitely regret that decision at this time. A couple months after the fallout I decided that maybe I should get my cdl and hit the highway. I'd thought about it for a long time and always been interested but it never seemed to fit for me timing wise. I found myself, once again, uprooted and able to just go wherever I felt like I wanted. So I switched back to full time at Amazon. Found out I didn't have to wait an additional 3 months to be eligible for Career Choice because I'd technically worked here the entire time and I put in for training at 160 academy.

Here we are today.

I know that was a long winded story but I hope it clears up a bit of the drug related concern. I don't think I've ever been anything close to a drug addict in my life. I feel like the way I've lived for most of my adult hood lends itself toward the possibility I could make otr work for me. I know it's something you can't prepare for. I know it's not all sunshine and scenery. I know I've never dealt with that kind of isolation even doing the work I used to do. But I found myself captivated by the idea for quite some time and I'm in a position to pursue it now. So that's what I intend to do. I hope I find it to be enjoyable. They say you can't prepare for a kick in the nuts and I know all too well that it's true. I'm as ready as I think I can be though and I'll do my very best to see it through to the end.

Thank you all for your replies and the information you've given me. I'll keep you updated on how it all goes for me and with any luck I'll see you on the road someday.

Alright your post is too long for me to quote it Zen! There's definitely a lot of good information regarding the issues new drivers face getting into the industry and I appreciate your reply. I understand you were speaking in general terms with your warning but I'd like to better explain where I'm at with this and hopefully dispel any illusion that might make someone think things about me that are not the case.

I know I mentioned that I quit smoking Marijuana the beginning of February and perhaps the way I phrased it could give the wrong impression. The end of January I smoked 6 or 7 joints in a one week period when I broke up with my girlfriend.

I've always had a bit if a nomadic side to me. I quit my job in aerospace and left washington at 19. I just drove to North Dakota to find an oilfield position. I stayed on the Missouri River sleeping in my car at night and hunting for a job during the daytime. It wasn't long before I got picked up by a hydrovac company I ran into on one of the job sites and I moved into company housing in Minot. The first time I ever smoked any weed was while I worked for them but it was a one off thing. Hydrovac isn't exactly a sought after job generally and we had a lot of employees who were not allowed to operate company crew trucks at all. So at the time I was one of two who were and I was getting "random" drug tested at least once every couple months. I stuck it out there for a few years before they shut down operations in ND and I moved back to Washington.

After that I spent probably a year, maybe a little longer, doing logging and concrete work before going to work at the beverage company. At the time all my friends from home had gotten themselves into this synthetic Marijuana stuff called spice gold which I really didn't approve of. I tried it a couple times and I certainly don't recommend it to anyone ever. Legal or not it was a bad drug and my friends were smoking it all the time. I started working at the beverage company as a batcher, so it was my job to actually make all this juice for our company to bottle up. At the time I was smoking weed maybe once every couple days and a little more often on weekends. One day I roll into work stoned. Bad idea, I call a 3000 batch of nfc orange juice to a tank with the door still open at the bottom, leave to check the temperatures on our pasteurizor, come back to a sea of orange juice all over the floor. I radio my boss to come back to the batching room and he does. I'd worked there just over a year at this point and luckily we were pretty good friends so when I told him I was stoned and didn't check the door, he covered for me saying a pipe burst and I kept my job. Needless to say I was thoroughly spooked and swore off drugs and alcohol for quite a long time after that. I got into yard dog driving maybe 6 months after the incident and I was back to being routinely drug tested. I think this is where the idea of trucking really started. I liked backing all these reefers into doors and pulling tankers from our lot. There was an inherent challenge to it and our yard always had trucks parked in random locations waiting for unload. I think the thrill of knowing if I screwed up even a little bit I'd be destroying thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of equipment and cargo really kept me interested for a long time.

I ran with that job for a couple more years then ended up having an altercation with a new manager who I assume didn't understand the processes very well at our company. I resigned a few weeks later and went back to logging and concrete work for a while. After summer had ended and I was out of work during the winter months I applied to a bunch of fishing companies up in Alaska. I got a call back from a company in the Aleutian Islands for a cannery position and hopped a flight to Alaska. The cannery was dull work for sure and all the warnings of having to work 16 hours a day 7 days a week didn't translate to much when I was there. We had weeks of no fish, no work, nothing to do at all. So I spent my time fishing off the dock and talking to the guys coming off the ships that arrived for unload. After a while I got poached by a longlining company and headed out into the pacific for my first season as a greenhorn. I wasnt ready. Not even a little bit. I had sea sickness and spent days upon days just throwing up non stop. The work was brutal but being sick made it beyond anything I'd encountered before. I stuck it out because there weren't very many of us on the ship and the team needed me to do my damn job. After I got used to the ocean it wasn't nearly as bad. Everything has a kind of routine to it and once I found my groove and stopped throwing up every 20 minutes I actually enjoyed being out there. We finished out the season and I stayed in Prince William sound doing Shipdock work for a while and id talk with the truckers up there while they were loading up and getting ready to hit the highway. I was always interested in the way these guys lived on the road but I was perfectly content with my position at the time. I'd be out on the sea for a few months at a time then back at the dock yard for a month before hopping another boat back out again. I worked like that for nearly 5 years and I came back to the lower 48 to visit my mom and ended up meeting my now ex girlfriend. She hated that I was gone all the time so I stopped doing shipyard and started coming home when I wasn't out at sea.

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Hello Skyler, and welcome to our forum!

I think you are misunderstanding a few things. Let's talk about this so you can move forward.

First... nobody will be taking hair samples from other body parts as long as you have hair available from your head. They aren't trying to trip you up with a surprise visit to your armpits.

Second... I don't see that misspelled name as an issue. I don't even think the vicodin will show up, but if you have a prescription and list it with the questions they have you answer pre-test, you will be fine.

Third... you said this:

I shall be avoiding this for an entire year I think.

Shouldn't be any issues for me going forward though. I sorted out the schedule with 160 and my work so I'll be training from the 13th of this month to June 21st!

It's a big mistake to wait a year after obtaining your license to start seeking employment in trucking. These companies want you to start fresh out of school whenever possible. Most of them consider any time period longer than two or three months as making your CDL "stale." It's really difficult to get hired without trying immediately after obtaining your CDL. This problem is exacerbated right now during the current freight recession.

If you're going to do this, you need to pull the trigger with a full commitment to get started now. Delays will only hinder your progress if you're already licensed.

The stuff I'd read said it was pretty unlikely that they would pull body hair as well but I keep my hair cut under a half inch usually so I would certainly fit into the body hair category. I'm glad the prescription name won't be an issue though. I'll let my hair grow out while I do training so I can avoid any follicle issues afterwards.

Its crazy the cdl stales out that fast though! When I said I would avoid it for a year I was meaning the follicle test not necessarily getting a new job with my cdl. I won't finish my cdl training until the 21st of June. I was intending to wait until September to look for a cdl position though. I'm up for a promotion to transportation manager at Amazon when the geg5 center opens but that's mid September. My chances seem pretty high but getting the cdl increases it as well. I was planning on going otr if I don't get it, nothings guaranteed at that place, but if my cdl won't be very legitimate at that point I will just hit the highway after training. I definitely don't want to this whole process to be a waste and honestly working at Amazon isn't exactly my cup of tea. I'll definitely start looking at otr companies immediately after training.

Thanks for helping me dodge that bullet! I could have ended up in a bad spot in a few months if you hadn't said anything.

I'd also like to add that I feel like my original questions kinda getting lost here. I definitely didn't mean for this to be a "will I pass this drug test" thread. I was pretty certain that I would be fine apart from the misspelling on my vicodin prescription. Don't get me wrong I'm now less convinced about that knowing that they could pull body hair and I would be in trouble. So I definitely appreciate the feedback.

I've decided to go the 160 route though so it doenst really matter very much anyways. Waiting a bit longer over the follicle stuff makes me less concerned about the spelling error in my script too. I was mostly just concerned I'd show up at orientation, get a follicle test showing vicodin in my system from however long ago and they'd be side eyeing my misspelled name script like I'm a shady drug addict haha.

I know I'm good as far as a urinalysis goes. I was just over a week ago and passed just fine. It's not an illegal drug in my state! Lol. I know that doesn't make any bit of difference when it comes to dot and the government standards so i get what you mean. What I've gathered information wise is this.

Generally a hair follicle sample will be taken from the top of the head and they use the closest 1.5 inches to the scalp for sample. This would usually indicate any drug use within the last 90 days.

Alternately they can use any hair sample over 1.5 inches from the body. Usually this is leg or armpit hair. If they take a body sample it's much harder to tell how long ago the drug use occurred due to varying hair growth time.

I also think I misunderstood what BK was getting at there. In my head I was thinking like if they pull a sample I'd explain that yeah I smoked weed 8 months ago. I think that's not the case and i'd be looking at a failed pre-employment and the fattest black mark on my applications going forward. I'd say it's definitely better to wait longer then 3 months on the follicle testing! I shall be avoiding this for an entire year I think.

Shouldn't be any issues for me going forward though. I sorted out the schedule with 160 and my work so I'll be training from the 13th of this month to June 21st! Thank you guys all so much for your answers

You don't have to worry about the Vicodin prescription medicine. That will be out of your system and won't show in any hair follicle test. Your name being slightly misspelled is not anything to be concerned about. You need to be more worried about your illegal drug that you took. We tell people to wait a full year because everybody's metabolism gets rid of it at different time frames. However, Errol says it takes only 3 months.

Here are some links for you to look at:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Skyler, there is little to worry about with the automatic restriction. In very few cases is it a factor anymore for new drivers.

Also, double check the hair follicle information. I think the advice is to be clean for 1 year before a follicle test. Don’t confuse a urine test with a follicle test.

I read on here that it shouldn't be much of a problem but I've also seen a few different positions looking for "class A cdl no restrictions" as well. It seems like more of the local jobs are preferring no restrictions so I'm hoping it won't be an issue for most otr positions.

I'd read that most follicle tests are designed to look back 90 days but could potentially go back up to a year+ if they wanted to. I'm not at all ashamed that I used to smoke. I quit before I decided to pursue a cdl and have no issue with not smoking going forward. I don't know if there's some kind of stigma around that in the trucking industry but I feel fine explaining that to a recruiter. Or I feel like I should be fine anyway. If only wishing made it so! I'll definitely look into that further. If I have to wait to utilize my license then I will. Thanks for the warning!

A search of this forum should be MORE than enough information regarding drug use, time from last use, and how you can tank your career before you start.

There is certainly a lot of information regarding drug policies on this forum. Most the posts about hair follicle testing at either of the companies appeared to be very old though. By the time I do any testing marijuana will have long cleared my system my only concern is over the misspelled name on my prescription a week ago. I found nothing utilizing search regarding that situation. Thanks for your reply! I'm sure if you had a nickel for every time some 1 poster asked a drug question you'd have a lot of nickels.

Skyler, Witcher to Trucking Truth.

If you have the opportunity to go with Career Choice, do that!

The course is 160 hours like any other CDL class. You will get the training and practice you need to move into a OTR career.

I know this because I have taught Career Choice - I'm one of the original trainers, based in Memphis. That will be your best deal - to have someone else pay full boat for the class.

This is most likely what I'll be doing. I'm not fond of the automatic restriction but apparently Prime doesn't hire out of my region anyways. Also not having to worry about owing any money is pretty nice! Thanks for the advice.

Hello! My names Skyler Harris and I'm from Washington state. I'm looking to start cdl training here in a few weeks one way or another. I just want to say this forum has been an incredibly useful tool in understanding the process of obtaining a cdl and the overall lifestyle that trucking provides. So thank you all so much for that.

Last night I applied at Wilson and Prime. I was originally planning to use Amazon career choice (I work at Amazon) to obtain my cdl through 160 academy but I dont like the automatic restriction and I am having some scheduling difficulties trying to get into their 1 month course. Mainly though, I'm thinking of avoiding it because it doesnt seem very thorough compared to a lot of the training programs that companies offer. I feel like being on the road operating in real world environments with a trainer would make such a huge difference. I've pulled a few trailers on the highway before when I worked in North Dakota but that was hotshot with a pickup. I also drove yard dog at a beverage company for a couple years after that backing reefers and bottle trucks into doors and moving oj tankers but like, I'm pretty green really. I just feel like there's a lot to learn for a 1 month course that's trying to keep it's pass rates high and I'm trying to be as successful as possible. Any thoughts on academies like 160 vs paid cdl training programs?

Anyway, I'm also wondering if Prime or Wilson do hair follicle tests? I'm seeing mixed answers on Prime and no answer at all for Wilson. Wilson is closer to my region but im worried about potential issues in a follicle test. Theoretically I should pass on the mj front because the last time I smoked any weed was the beginning of February but my concern is over the 5 vicodin I was prescribed. I had a wisdom tooth extracted last Thursday and they prescribed me 5 hydrocodone 5s for post op pain management. At the time I figured no big deal I have a prescription for this but now I'm concerned because they misspelled my name as Skylar on the bottle. I pointed it out to the lady at walgreens but didn't notice they never fixed it until I got home. I know the documents that I filled out at the oral surgeon were all accurate at least. Should I try to get a copy from them about the script? I'm not sure if the doctor maybe was the one who spelled my name wrong originally or not, I never even checked. I was kind of out of it after surgery but stopped at walgreens on the way home so I didnt have to go back to town later. None of this will matter if I'm not up against the follicle test but I'd really like to have my ducks in a row either way just in case. Has anyone had to deal with type of thing before?

Thanks for taking the time to read my first post and for all the answers this forum provides. Seriously, this site has been the greatest source of information I've found anywhere on trucking.