Profile For James C.

Driver Solutions has told me that USA Truck is hiring from my area. After a google of USA Truck, I see that they are in a bit of financial trouble, and Knight Transportation is has offered to buy them out. USA Truck apparently declined their offer, and implemented some sort of "poison pill" defense to keep Knight at bay. I would prefer to not even consider getting involved with a company having such troubles, but my options are severely limited at this point. Does anyone have any idea what would happen with the drivers if Knight were to be successful in their acquisition of USA Truck?

I posted last week about my troubles with a 20 year old criminal history and my self employment verification issues when applying to Prime. 6 weeks after I initially applied, countless emails, faxes and phone calls later, I finally received an answer... It was a no. It was completely deflating to hear those words from the recruiter. My dream of following my father into the trucking industry seems completely unattainable at times, and never has it seemed more so than now. My love of a Nomadic type lifestyle doesn't seem to fit into any other industry like it does trucking. My 15 years in the construction industry has offered me a little bit of that free roaming type lifestyle, but not nearly to the degree I long for. When I rode with my father as a teenager it was the greatest experience of my life. Not knowing where you are going to be a week from now, just following the open road to wherever it takes you is something that holds immense appeal for me. The challenge of figuring out the best route to take and figuring out the best place to stop for the night to give myself the best advantage for the next day is a reverie I long for.

I know that my past paints an ugly picture, but it is truly not who I really am. Maybe I did live a little too care free as a young adult, and I may spend the rest of my life trying to live it down. But I know without a doubt that the trucking industry is where I want to be. I know that if I can just get started, then I will finally feel at home with what I do. I felt like Prime would be the best fit for me, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. I have now applied to every company listed on this site for company sponsored training, and am just praying that one of them will give me a chance. Any one! Just let me in the door and I wont rest until I prove the risk they take on me was worth it.

I suppose it may be the case where there may not be anyone willing to take a risk on me. If that happens, some of you might see me hitching rides at a truck stop near you, traveling the country as a passenger!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Daniel B., I did give the recruiter 3 references. I talked to each of them and not one of them has received a call from anyone at Prime.

Old School, that is a great idea to get my references write a letter and the contractor I subbed from in Oklahoma to write one as well. I will be making some calls tomorrow to try and get this done.

Guyjax, its good to know that there are guys out there that have been able to escape the shadow of the past. We may have made some mistakes in the past, but that certainly does not define who we are now. I thought I had gotten past it when it was "removed" from my public record after 15 years. I applied to a large company that processes soybeans 3 years ago. Their application asked if I had been convicted of a felony in the past 7 years. Of course I said no. They hired me pending a background check. Guess what happened when they received the background check? Yup, my history apparently disqualifies me from the highly sensitive task of unloading soybeans from rail cars and pushing them in a crusher. What was I going to do? Steal a rail car somehow? I can laugh about it now, but it was a kick in the sack when they told me that they wouldn't hire me after already telling me I had the job. I am sure that I can overcome my misdeeds of 1994 and find someone who will take a chance on me. Its just a long uphill battle.

So I have been studying the trucking industry for several months, trying to decide on how to enter the industry. I could pay for a truck driving school myself and apply to many different companies that hire rookies, but I instead decided on going to a trucking company that has their own school, and here is why: I received a life sentence when I was 18. Now if you were to look up my criminal record it would tell you that I was charged with many felonies and dozens of misdemeanors, and I was convicted of 2 felonies and a few misdemeanors and received a 19 month prison sentence. I say it was a life sentence, because here I am 20 years after the fact and people still judge me by a few paragraphs on a sheet of paper that tells them I am a bad person. Apparently people can't change after they are 18? Anyway, for this reason I decided that I wanted a trucking company that knew all of this about me and would still be willing to take a "risk" on me. So a few weeks ago after researching various companies and options, I decided to apply to Prime. No particular reason sticks out as to why other than that is what I felt in my gut would be a good fit for me. So after applying I was contacted by a recruiter who asks for proof of employment for the past three years, since I own part of a small construction company and have been self employed for the past 10 years. Now, my company has been struggling to survive for the past few years, and it is on the verge of bankruptcy. The company's taxes are a huge mess, and we haven't even gotten the taxes filed for 2012 yet and here we are approaching 2013's tax time. Now since the company hasn't filed its taxes for 2012 yet, obviously my personal taxes cannot be filed yet, leaving me with no real way to prove that I have been self employed for 2012. I have not even filed my personal taxes since 2008, since I haven't even been making enough to survive since then. But I did get a printout from the irs office showing my reported earnings for 2010 and 2011. I don't know if the recruiter doesn't know how to make heads or tales out of it, or if it doesn't look right to them because the unfiled returns or what, but I cannot get an answer from the recruiter one way or the other as to if I can start with prime. Geez, and I thought the ancient criminal history was going to be tough to get by! I can't even get past the work history! I have been working in Oklahoma since the tornadoes there in June, and just came back up to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. I am taking a trip back down to Oklahoma later this week to finish up there and get my check. I am taking all of my records and paperwork with me so I can stop into the Prime offices on my way back. Maybe some face to face time and a briefcase full of paperwork will get me started with them soon! Let's hope so anyway...