Just Finished Schneider Interview...not Sure What To Expect From Here On Out...

Well as I said last night, I had an interview with Schneider National this morning. For the most part, the interview went very well up until the point of my driving record. This is where it gets interesting. I have one moving violation on my driving record and then I was charged with DUI back in 2012. Heres the kicker, I was found NOT GUILTY of DUI in court which results in no convictions, however, my license was still suspended and I had to have the interlock in my truck for a period of time because the hearing regarding my license was before the court date. So therefore a restriction regarding the interlock is showing up on my record as "Operating a Motor Vehicle while impaired by Liquor." I sent them court documents that indicated I had been found not guilty of DUI from my court case for them to review. So I am not sure what is going to happen from here on out. I always thought a NOT GUILTY meant NOT GUILTY and that was it. I do understand why they are being cautious about this as they have to cover themselves as well. Any input would be appreciated.

They'll review it and get back with you. Schneider will hire people with 1 DUI but it has to be 7 years past? Lol don't quote me on that but I had asked a recruiter and she told me. I have a prehire with Schneider too. Despite my clear MVR I told them about a small at fault accident I had almost 5 years ago. I told them the truth, that I was not going more than 15mph and wasn't ticketed. They asked me for a copy of the report, which I gladly provided.

The next thing you know, I'm getting this strange little email from the recruiter saying they couldn't go forward with my application, because I had lied and the report said i was going 35mph. LMAO. I emailed her back, thanked her for her time and told her I would take a second look at the report, because I was positive it did not say that.

2 days later, she calls me saying that Safety took another look at the report and agreed with me. Lol the speed limit where the accident occured was 35 mph, however we had just taken off from a stop sign onto a busy city highway, when a confused elderly gentleman suddenly slammed on his brakes after being well out onto that highway.

I opted to not go forward with Schneider, because it concerned me that they could so easily jump to conclusions and accuse me of lying, despite me providing the info, the report, etc when I could have just as easily not even mentioned it. The other factor in my decision was my new employers minimum pay guarantee, and the fact that Schneider had lost the dedicated account I was hoping to run for my former employer.

Schneider is interesting for sure. They'll balk, but if whomever reviews your information can look at the facts and not jump to conclusions you'll be fine. Their company training is short, but I do hesr it's excellent.

They'll review it and get back with you. Schneider will hire people with 1 DUI but it has to be 7 years past? Lol don't quote me on that but I had asked a recruiter and she told me. I have a prehire with Schneider too. Despite my clear MVR I told them about a small at fault accident I had almost 5 years ago. I told them the truth, that I was not going more than 15mph and wasn't ticketed. They asked me for a copy of the report, which I gladly provided.

The next thing you know, I'm getting this strange little email from the recruiter saying they couldn't go forward with my application, because I had lied and the report said i was going 35mph. LMAO. I emailed her back, thanked her for her time and told her I would take a second look at the report, because I was positive it did not say that.

2 days later, she calls me saying that Safety took another look at the report and agreed with me. Lol the speed limit where the accident occured was 35 mph, however we had just taken off from a stop sign onto a busy city highway, when a confused elderly gentleman suddenly slammed on his brakes after being well out onto that highway.

I opted to not go forward with Schneider, because it concerned me that they could so easily jump to conclusions and accuse me of lying, despite me providing the info, the report, etc when I could have just as easily not even mentioned it. The other factor in my decision was my new employers minimum pay guarantee, and the fact that Schneider had lost the dedicated account I was hoping to run for my former employer.

Schneider is interesting for sure. They'll balk, but if whomever reviews your information can look at the facts and not jump to conclusions you'll be fine. Their company training is short, but I do hesr it's excellent.

I kind of felt like that was the case here, she read my MVR and jumped to conclusions. As I said earlier, a not guilty verdict means no conviction! Therefore it shouldn't matter. I still had to have the interlock but that doesn't mean that I was convicted of DUI you know? Had I been convicted I would have lost my insurance, done jail time, paid serious fines, etc. It was a lesson learned thats for sure. But once again I do not have a conviction. I don't know whats going to happen at this point. I would like to think there is a company out there that will hire me.

I opted to not go forward with Schneider, because it concerned me that they could so easily jump to conclusions and accuse me of lying

Wow, you're really rough. It sounds like they misread your report and now you're going to banish them from your life? Geesh.......I sure hope people show you a lot more tolerance for the long list of time consuming, expensive, and potentially deadly mistakes you'll be making over the next 6-12 months....mistakes that might be even worse than misreading a report!

Just for the record for any new guys that might be considering Schneider from reading this or what not. I will say my experience with them thus far has been very pleasant. Everyone has been very courteous, treated me with the a lot of respect as well as answered all my questions. For the position I was interviewing for which was a Team position, starting pay was going to be .41 CPM. Granted whatever happens, I will not have a sour taste in my mouth regarding Schneider because I know they also have to take the correct avenues in order to protect themselves, if I am not qualified I am not qualified so to say. As frustrating as it may be, it is certainly not their fault by any means.

Being found NOT GUILTY - and providing a disposition showing this, "should" clear things up.

I say - SHOULD - because if they get the entire arrest report, and then find you WERE over the limit, but it got kicked on a "technicality" - then they still might decline to hire you.

Most (if not all) states, require you to submit to testing - and while a refusal to test is not an admission of guilt, they also provide for a license suspension for refusal.

Similarly - refusing s drug/alc test while employed as a CDL driver, will result in the same penalties as dropping hot (counseling, return to duty procedures, etc).

There can always be some "weird circumstances", that can (or cannot) be "adequately explained".

For example...

I hit a pedestrian a year ago (in my 4-wheeler). Drunk homeless guy decided to play "jaywalker hockey". A crowded intersection, the cops and EMT's knew the guy. He had actually pulled this a year earlier.

I wasn't cited - the long-form accident report, found me not at fault. Investigating deputy told em I had nothing to worry about.

OF COURSE, some ambulance chaser filed a claim against my insurance.

I MADE SURE to get a letter from my insurance company stating that I had ZERO LIABILITY in the accident, and that any settlement was made as a BUSINESS DECISION.

Of course I will have to disclose this on any future application - and it will cause any company to scrutinize me even more closely.

Rick

Being found NOT GUILTY - and providing a disposition showing this, "should" clear things up.

I say - SHOULD - because if they get the entire arrest report, and then find you WERE over the limit, but it got kicked on a "technicality" - then they still might decline to hire you.

Most (if not all) states, require you to submit to testing - and while a refusal to test is not an admission of guilt, they also provide for a license suspension for refusal.

Similarly - refusing s drug/alc test while employed as a CDL driver, will result in the same penalties as dropping hot (counseling, return to duty procedures, etc).

There can always be some "weird circumstances", that can (or cannot) be "adequately explained".

For example...

I hit a pedestrian a year ago (in my 4-wheeler). Drunk homeless guy decided to play "jaywalker hockey". A crowded intersection, the cops and EMT's knew the guy. He had actually pulled this a year earlier.

I wasn't cited - the long-form accident report, found me not at fault. Investigating deputy told em I had nothing to worry about.

OF COURSE, some ambulance chaser filed a claim against my insurance.

I MADE SURE to get a letter from my insurance company stating that I had ZERO LIABILITY in the accident, and that any settlement was made as a BUSINESS DECISION.

Of course I will have to disclose this on any future application - and it will cause any company to scrutinize me even more closely.

Rick

Rick, I appreciate your response! That's exactly what I did was provide court documentation indicating I was found not guilty. I did submit to the alcohol test as I was aware that not submitting is an automatic suspension. I did cooperate to the fullest extent, no reason not to ya know. I guess we will find out!

Brett, lol not fair. I did say I had several reasons, but that was a factor. Pay was the biggest one for me and I was really wanting that dedicated amazon account if it was available with Schneider. 2 weeks later, It wasn't. Turns out that USA Truck underbid them and you know how that goes.

But yes, I can be tough. I pride myself on being ethical and honest.. always have. My years in healthcare has much to do with that, I'm sure. Call it being a stickler for details or whatever. I don't slam them at all. They are a fine company with excellent training and equipment and I have a few friends who work for them and are quite happy. The recruiter was very very nice and I daresay that had I not been nice, she probably wouldn't have bothered to take another look.

After some soul searching, I decided on West Side and haven't wavered on my choice.

Brett, lol not fair. I did say I had several reasons, but that was a factor. Pay was the biggest one for me and I was really wanting that dedicated amazon account if it was available with Schneider. 2 weeks later, It wasn't. Turns out that USA Truck underbid them and you know how that goes.

But yes, I can be tough. I pride myself on being ethical and honest.. always have. My years in healthcare has much to do with that, I'm sure. Call it being a stickler for details or whatever. I don't slam them at all. They are a fine company with excellent training and equipment and I have a few friends who work for them and are quite happy. The recruiter was very very nice and I daresay that had I not been nice, she probably wouldn't have bothered to take another look.

After some soul searching, I decided on West Side and haven't wavered on my choice.

Sue, I'm the same way. No shame in that! Honesty, ethics and fairness are very important to me as well. Not enough individuals have these qualities anymore.

But yes, I can be tough. I pride myself on being ethical and honest.. always have

Sue, I'm the same way. No shame in that! Honesty, ethics and fairness are very important to me as well. Not enough individuals have these qualities anymore.

Most people strive to be prudently ethical and honest. And by prudently I mean most people aren't saints and they use their better judgment to know what's right. Like you don't walk up to someone and tell them they're ugly just because you take pride in being honest. That just makes you an honest jerk. But the ethical part is more complex when it comes to trucking and we'll get to that in a moment.

The bigger concern I have is the tendency for new drivers coming into the industry to take this "holier than thou" attitude and start passing judgment on everyone and everything they come across. They don't think drivers do their job properly. They don't think schools are training people properly. They don't think trucking companies are running their operations properly. And yet they haven't driven a truck a single mile solo yet in their lives! It's ignorant for a person to think they know all they need to know about something they have no experience with. We all try to understand new circumstances and we all make the best decisions we can based on the knowledge we have at the moment but there are times you need to understand that there's a lot you don't know yet so it's best to reserve judgment until you have better information.

I always try to get people to avoid passing judgment and making broad, sweeping statements about anything within the trucking industry until they've been out there and done it for a while. For instance, you ladies are honest and ethical, right? I totally believe that. And yet I know for a fact you are both going to knowingly break Federal and State Laws and Regulations as a regular part of your everyday life on the road. How do I know this? Because trucking requires it! My favorite example:

You load a maximum weight load at a shipper but they don't have any scales on the premises. No matter how good you are at directing them to load the cargo there's at least a 75% chance you're overweight on your drives or tandems. The closest truck stop is 40 miles away but there are no DOT weigh stations between you and the truck stop. What do you do? You drive to the truck stop knowing you're likely overweight and you scale the truck. I mean, what choice do you have? The laws are written in such a way that you really have no practical choice. You can't get the axle weights legal for highway travel without travelling on the highways first to get to the scale.

Lawbreakers - that's what you ladies are going to be! Outlaws! Bandits! You're the robbers in the cops-n-robbers game!

For all rookies coming into the industry I'm just saying you should go easy with your judgments on anything trucking-related until you've lived it and you understand it better. Trucking is a strange and difficult beast. If you want to work in this industry it's going to require you to go above and beyond what most people would be willing to do in their everyday jobs and lives and that will include knowingly breaking Federal and State Laws and Regulations at some point. You don't want to be out there on the road experiencing things you had never considered before and suddenly realize you immortalized yourself on TruckingTruth by making public a long list of snap judgments and naive declarations about the trucking industry before you really knew what life on the road was all about.