Profile For Joe W.

Sorry, one more question. whats your opinion of primes lease?

Work history the last 3 years if 10 years if you were a driver.

driving record, the last 3 years

convictions and DUI are company specific. some companies will not allow even 1 DUI others might say 2, others might say 1 in a lifetime

be honest and only answer what is asked. "Have gou EVER been convicted" is much different from "have you been convicted the last 3 years"

I work for Prime who is stricter than others. there are "second chance" companies but might as well try the others first.

whats the issue...we might be able to help

Hey, Rainy thanks for response by the way. Been talking to a prime recruiter named Jorge and he says since my DUI's were 20 years ago they would not be an issue. Do you think he is just trying to get numbers? Really don't need to be wasting my time with being sent back home after a few days. Joe

Work history the last 3 years if 10 years if you were a driver.

driving record, the last 3 years

convictions and DUI are company specific. some companies will not allow even 1 DUI others might say 2, others might say 1 in a lifetime

be honest and only answer what is asked. "Have gou EVER been convicted" is much different from "have you been convicted the last 3 years"

I work for Prime who is stricter than others. there are "second chance" companies but might as well try the others first.

whats the issue...we might be able to help

I do have a certificate but it is for 80-hour refresher. When I contacted the school, in the beginning, I told them I had driven for a while for Schlumberger in 2008. Went to their two-week school even. Wasn't a whole lot of driving but the head of the school said a refresher would be good. Now it seems to be a problem, at least for Werner.

Joe DUIs are considered very differently by trucking companies, and for good reason. As per Rainy's comprehensive reply (please read what she suggested especially pertaining to filling out applications, very important), each company has their own policy for DUIs. Contrary to Werner's explanation or your understanding of it, they have a lifetime limit of 1 DUI. With 2 no matter how old or why, you are disqualified because of Werner's hiring policy. This is perhaps the reason you were sent home. That's the hard truth.

3 weeks of schooling vs. 5 weeks of school; not exactly true. Any reputable school will provide you a certificate proving successful completion of the minimum required 160 hours of instruction. This certificate, plus the valid CDL pre-qualifies you for most all carriers hiring newbies. Without it, any reputable company will not be able to hire you; their insurance will not cover you. That said, all of the trucking companies offering Paid CDL Training Programs are about 3-3.5 weeks duration of instruction necessary to pass the CDL tests. Do you have any training certificate from the school you graduated from? If not, you will likely need to repeat this step to satisfy insurance requirements of a prospective employer.

Here is what I suggest, study each company found in this link: Trucking Company Reviews

Identify any company that road-trains (aka: mentoring or finish training), will hire entry level drivers and accepts 2 DUI's as part of their hiring policy. Like Rainy said, be careful how applications are worded; only provide exactly what is asked for, noting more and nothing less.

Good luck.

I have two DUI's, 18 and 20 years ago. Just worried because I was sent home from Werner on day three of orientation because had 3 week CDL school instead of 5 weeks. Big waste of time. I have heard of people being sent home for other reasons even if they were approved by safety dept. beforehand. Now I'm a little leery about going anywhere.

Work history the last 3 years if 10 years if you were a driver.

driving record, the last 3 years

convictions and DUI are company specific. some companies will not allow even 1 DUI others might say 2, others might say 1 in a lifetime

be honest and only answer what is asked. "Have gou EVER been convicted" is much different from "have you been convicted the last 3 years"

I work for Prime who is stricter than others. there are "second chance" companies but might as well try the others first.

whats the issue...we might be able to help

Does anybody know if the bigger companies like Swift or Prime do background checks over ten years?

So I was on the third day of orientation at Werner and got called into the office. I was told that during background they found out I did 3 weeks at CDL school, not 5 weeks. (I had driven for a while about 8 years ago and the school said the 3-week refresher would work). Werner said needed 5 weeks not 3, so back home I went. Does anyone know if this is common amongst a lot of carriers, especially the ones that take newer drivers? Would like to save some time before start looking into Swift, England, Scheinder, etc.