Profile For Nick

Give a little more information like when this charge was from. Did you receive probation? Any legal restrictions you were under? What was the consequence?

Typically, you’ll be able to get your CDL. Any school where you pay will be happy to take your money and train you. As far as I know, schools don’t do background checks. Mine certainly didn’t. As you said though, getting a job is a totally different thing. And with the current market and how picky companies are being now because they aren’t desperate for drivers, they’re cherry picking the best of the best. It could be an uphill battle with something on your record, especially something drug related.

Your best bet might be finding a company who will train you to get your license and then offer you a job. Someone like Swift. I believe they still do their own CDL training.

Nick's curiosity:

I’m very curious to get an update on how things have gone the last month since this post was made.

That depends on the OP. Many times the discussion doesn't go the way they want, and they ghost.

I have a friend that is making a decent income as an O/O. But I feel it's like basketball. Many people in the US aspire to the NBA. But there's less than 600 contracted pros in the league. (SportsBoom.com) Stick with Company. Fewer headaches, similar take-home.

Yeah I’m starting to think just staying a company driver is the best option. I mean really, I feel like I have my own truck anyways. I was assigned a brand new 2025 Freightliner once I was released from training that was barely 4 months old at the time. I have it all setup just to my liking and have made it very comfortable. No one else drives it. I regularly get 2,500 miles a week, sometimes more. This last week was 2,627 miles, including working Thanksgiving so I got that holiday pay and that included being delayed a whole day waiting out a storm. So far, the company has treated me very well and is taking care of me. I’m making enough money to cover all of my responsibilities and then some. I can’t complain right now. Makes me wonder if I’d feel the same way as an O/O. I’m not much older than the OP and have similar experience yet do just fine as a company driver without all the added stress as an O/O.

As someone who’s a company driver at a mega carrier (that offers an O/O lease program and helps you get all setup) it’s definitely something I’ve considered for something down the road if I stay where I’m at. In my opinion, having been solo for a bit now, I’d never even consider starting out as a lease or O/O out of the gate. There’s so much to learn even without all the stresses of being a business owner.

I’m very curious to get an update on how things have gone the last month since this post was made.

I would add as well - yes, failing to provide a sample, even if you weren’t necessarily “refusing” the test is still considered a refusal which is basically the same as a failed test. And it is required to be reported to Clearinghouse. That’s going to make it next to impossible to move forward now. Even if you get your CDL, virtually every company is going to see a “failed test” which resulted in a dismissal from school as a major red flag and won’t even give you the time of day. Especially given the current market, all of these companies are now being extra picky on who they hire. They’re only looking for the best of the best because they aren’t desperate for drivers. If there is anyway to get that removed off of your Clearinghouse, you need to do that ASAP or you will never be able to move forward. Unfortunately, it’s just the sad truth right now.

I’ve always worked in transportation. My first CDL job was at 19 years old driving charter buses. Back when it was a lot easier to get a commercial license. Proved a little challenging to find a company willing to take a risk on a young 19 year old. Insurance companies weren’t super keen on the idea. But, I found one who was and it worked out great. When I turned 21, I left that company and drove city transit buses for a municipal agency in Southern California. After that, I left driving for a few years and took a variety of jobs in the airline industry. From customer service, operations, and all the way to management. I loved it. Thought I’d stay there forever. When COVID hit, I left the industry and it took a while for me to figure out what I was going to do again. But I got back in the seat and this time I decided to go for my full CDL-A and start driving tractor trailers. My years of driving buses definitely has helped, even though it is a totally different animal. Now I’m at one of the mega carriers based out of WA state. - Best decision I ever made to get my career back on track in a post COVID world. Yeah, freight is down a bit. But at my company, we’re showing an upward trend. I’m having a great time.

It’s my understanding that pretty much all of the major or well known carriers in the US do hair follicle testing now for pre-employment. It’s just how it is nowadays. If you’re worried about it, which in that case you shouldn’t even be a CDL holder in the first place if there’s even a chance you wouldn’t pass one, but if you’re worried about it, go to a smaller, local, mom/pop company where this might not be an issue. Usually those types of companies don’t have big HR departments and company lawyers to answer to like someone like Werner, Schneider, Swift, etc.

You’re asking them to trust you in a $200,000 truck hauling a loader well over double that. It’s perfectly reasonable for them to want to give you every pre-employment drug and alcohol test available to them. And again, if it’s something you’re even worried about, you probably shouldn’t be considering a job in the industry in the first place. Just my unsolicited two cents.

From Papa Pig:

breaking a contract ... try other companies

How about that when any company you apply to finds you tried to break out of a contract, they put your application in the round file.

Errol I don’t think the question is him breaking a contract but wondering if them not continuing his services is them breaking a contract.

Nick. While dollar General does use bigger carriers like Werner, Schneider, etc to haul their freight they have an expanding private fleet. Kind of like how Walmart or Publix has their own trucks but uses outside carriers for a lot of the workload. They also have a program that will allow warehouse workers to sign a contract and they will pay for their cdl if they haul and unload dollar General freight for a certain amount of time. I personally thought that was awesome because I used to get so mad at the warehouse for how badly they loaded the trailers. Almost like justice and now you get to be in the receiving end of those badly loaded trailers 😂. Either way I have my suspicions of why this arrangement didn’t work but that’s not my place. Our job now is to try and advise and help this driver move on.

Gotcha, I didn’t know they were expanding their own fleet! I’m at Schneider so obviously I know how big of a customer/contract it is for us.

I guess I don’t understand and sorry to sound ignorant here but how were you under contract with Dollar G? It’s my understanding all of their transportation is done by other carriers. Schneider and Werner are the huge carriers of them.

what the local sheriff department would be okay with, as far as crossing state lines and such.

When I mentioned about there being misinformation out there, this idea is a common misconception. I am not trying to say that you are knowingly misinforming anyone, but I do want to clarify the reality of what being on the registry means, when it comes to work.

There is nuance to this, and it requires explaining two different situations. Being on the registry and on paper (probation or parole) and being on the registry off paper are totally different dynamics. On paper, a person on the registry has to gain approval to take a given job. Off paper, a person on the registry is merely reporting the information to law enforcement. The distinction is the ability for the authority to deny approval. Off paper, there is no approval process.

I won't get into how this is different from decades past. Just understand that this is the function now.

Also, law enforcement officers don't conduct home visits for those who are on the registry and not on paper.

If there is a reason to suspect that a person is not actually living at the address being reported, then this would prompt a criminal investigation. LEOs are not likely to tip someone off by announcing they are coming by to see them.

All of this is from my personal experience with decades in dealing with the matter.

I really do appreciate that you provide encouragement to those who might think their situation is beyond hope. I basically just wanted to clarify that one particular dynamic. People in the situation of being on the registry and off paper deserve to understand that they are not asking for permission to live their lives, which includes working to support themselves. I am sure that there are some small counties in some places that try to create this dynamic. Because there are all sorts of reasons for being on the registry: Being guilty as charged, being guilty of something but not that specific charge, being by mere association, and simply falsely accused. Because of the fact that there can be a whole host of reasons why an individual is on the registry, no one who is off paper should continue to be treated like they are still serving a sentence.

I appreciate your response on this. I was giving what limited knowledge I have based on how my friend had to go about it and I wanted, at the end of the day, to provide positive reassurance to anyone reading that my be a RSO and looking to get into this industry and that it is definitely possible and to not be discouraged. I know my friend is on the registry but off paper, as in he hasn’t been on probation in about 4 years and never had to “ask for permission” to get a driving job. He did contact his local department to ask if there would be any kind of restrictions but they reassured him it was totally fine and that there were many others within their jurisdiction that are RSOs and drive OTR. So you’re not asking them for permission, you’re simply informing them of your employment status and where you work. But it’s not for them to say you can or can’t work there. The main thing is being honest with your employer about your background (it would come up on a pre-employment background check anyway) so godforbid, if anyone from the local department you’re registered with were to ever call and verify employment, there’d be no surprises. Again, your employer should know at that point anyways cause of the background check.

And, as you stated, this varies from situation to situation, especially be on paper vs. off paper. It would seem to me that being off paper, it’s certainly way easier to get a job in this industry. I do understand the distinction you were trying to make and I appreciate the clarification. My knowledge is limited to my friends situation since I was there for him every step of the way offering full support.

I drive a 2025 Freightliner and I have a love/hate relationship with the safety systems. The LDA sometimes goes off when it thinks you’re crossing over the line when in fact it’s just weird grooves in the road. I don’t mind the side radar usually. Makes it easier when I’m passing a truck and the amber triangle inside turns off letting me know I’m clear.

Thankfully, we don’t have cameras inside the truck (except the outward facing drive cam to record in front of you) and it was recently reported that we WILL NOT be getting inward facing cameras as our company considers it an invasion of privacy, especially in the sleeper cabs.