Profile For David S.

I've been taking care of our farm for the last three years, cows, horses, pigs, and chickens ... building fence, barn repair, baling hay, and everything else it takes to run a farm, but you don't get a 1040 tax form for that, and that's what Prime wanted.

If any of that was included on your tax statements as write-offs then you would be able to prove you've been working. You also might ask Prime about other methods they will allow for you to prove what you've been doing.

I think what they're most concerned with is work ethic. They don't want people they feel are content sitting on the couch getting paid to do nothing. They want people who are motivated to work. I raise some animals and have a huge garden every year so I know you're out there working hard every day to take care of things. I think Prime would be happy to know that. The trouble is simply verifying it.

Normally they'll let you show notarized letters from people verifying what you've been doing. So possibly a combination of some sort of tax documents and notarized letters might get you in the door with Prime or any other company that wants to verify your work ethic.

Thanks, Brett for the heads up!

Thanks for all the great replies! I've never drawn an unemployment check ... my wife makes $200K per year, and I've been taking care of our farm for the last three years, cows, horses, pigs, and chickens ... building fence, barn repair, baling hay, and everything else it takes to run a farm, but you don't get a 1040 tax form for that, and that's what Prime wanted.

Drawing a check from unemployment will give you a way to verify that you were indeed unemployed at that time, but that's about it as far as getting hired in trucking. I don't think they look at it as being better or worse if you actually drew a check. They just need you to prove what you were doing at the time.

And don't forget, drawing unemployment is your money if you had been working and paying taxes up to that point. You're just getting some of your tax money back. And Social Security will be all dried up before too long and most of us will never see any of our money we put into that. And there's a lot of things we're double-taxed on. So hey, if you get a little tax money back, so be it. I've never drawn an unemployment check myself, but it can mean the difference between having food on the table for the kids or not for some people so you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

I am looking to enroll in one of the company sponsored truck driving schools, but have been unemployed for the last 3 years. Prime already turned me down because of no verifiable employment. How do I get around this problem? Thanks for any input.