Turned Down

Hi everyone, one of the companies I was interested in, turned me down. Recruiter had no idea or would not tell me why. Is this common. Employment record is great. No tickets since I was 16. No accidents since 16. I am 58. Been at job for last 9 years. No drug use or failed drug test ever. I'm a little baffled at this.

Good morning

To be honest, I would send the recruiter a very polite email and ask why. I would tell him, you just want to understand so you will be able to apply to others. I would then kill him/her with kindness, and appreciation for the assistance

Chris

Army, I did that. She said it was the powers that be. It came from hiring board. So I am in the dark!

Well not sure what company it was, but I would keep applying to others. Best of luck.

This is common practice because if they give you a reason and there's anyway on Earth it can be construed as discrimination they can be sued for it. So they normally just say, "We've found more qualified candidates" or say nothing at all and leave it at that.

Companies will alter their hiring for different reasons. They may have as many drivers as they want from a particular region. There may be something they saw in your history that hit one of their filters as being a red flag. You may have said something over the phone that concerned them. It's impossible to say. But I wouldn't waste a moment worrying about it. Just keep moving forward.

Folks, this is why we always recommend that you Apply For Paid CDL Training, see who will give you an opportunity, and then do the research to choose the right company to work for.

People always hear that there's this huge demand for drivers so they figure they'll have their pick of companies. It never works out that way. You'll get several offers if you apply to a bunch of companies and you have a good record, but not every company you're qualified for is going to offer you a position.

Remember, these companies that hire new drivers are all elite companies. They're the best of the best. You can be highly successful and make great money at any of them, so it only takes one approval and you're off and running. Look around at the experienced drivers we have here. They work for all different companies across the spectrum and they all love where they work. They're all being treated great and making great money driving beautiful equipment.

So don't sweat it. Apply first, then do the research to pick the company that suits you best. They're all great choices.

Tarheel, typically they will not tell you why they turned you down. Some of them give a blanket statement such as, "We had more qualified candidates," but that's probably not the real reason.

It can be something as simple as your location. Hiring areas fluctuate somewhat with the number of drivers they have in a certain area. Let's say you're from South Carolina and they have a lot of drivers from that area right now. It makes it tricky for them to have the proper flow of freight to get all those drivers home reasonably.

Don't beat yourself up over it, just move on. You're about to learn a lesson I stress all the time in here. That name on the doors of the truck is very inconsequential to your happiness and success out here. Everybody, and I mean everybody puts way too much emphasis on that initial company. Free yourself from that stress, and get onto the next one. If you apply yourself, and follow the principles we teach in here, you are going to be doing great and loving life out here on the road.

Terminal location is also another very inconsequential thing that new drivers stress over. It's really not important at all. I've never lived in the same state, or even within 1,000 miles of my home terminals. Don't worry about trying to get on with a company close to you or even close to somewhere you want to eventually live. It's not important at all. Freight lanes are what they use to get you home, not terminal locations.

I actually know how you're feeling, I got sent home from three orientations, and had my applications to Roehl, KLLM, Southern Refrigerated, FFE, Tyson, Old Dominion, and some others flatly rejected with no reason. You just move on to the next one. Someone is going to give you the green light, and then you'll discover another truth we stress all the time - it's going to be all up to you to prove you've got what it takes to succeed. They will give you a shot, but they expect you to show them what you're made of.

Hold your head high and keep moving forward. Don't put any more concern in to that rejection - it's a waste of good time that you can be focusing on your approach to this rewarding career.

Thanks, Brett and Old School, on to next one.

I agree with everything the others have said, but I will add this.. Have you done a background check on yourself?

The only reason I say this, is I once had a trainee who's story is unimaginable. Clean record (so they thought), no tickets, accidents, excellent job history, but NO company would give this trainee the time of day and she couldn't figure out why. Finally a company had a little compassion and told her to check her record. What was showing was several DUIs from a state she'd never lived in or even been to. Turns out, she was a victim of identity theft. A relative had stolen her identity to obtain a license in another state under her name and got multiple DUIs. By the time she got it all squared away (8 months later) companies told her she'd been out of CDL school too long and they couldn't hire her.

West Side Transport gave her a chance even though she'd not been in a truck in almost 11 months. She's an excellent driver and doing very well. She's been solo for over 6 months.

So, sure YOU know your background is good, but if you keep getting rejections consider checking your own background. It's just something to think about if it's not just one of those common one time occurrences.

This is great advice from Susan. The problem is more common than one might think, and there are lots of potential causes in addition to identity theft.

There aren't many unique names. For example, there is another person with my same name and similar dob that has a felony auto theft conviction on his record, and he got it in the same state I lived in for many years (though not at the time he committed the crime). That item has popped onto my record many times over the years.

Separately, or perhaps not, I used to travel out of the country a lot, and upon returning I was often put on the group W bench for hours. I finally got Global Entry, and then the hassles ended (because a proper thorough background check was done).

I formerly managed a local transit company that hired thousands of drivers over the years. A significant percentage of the time (I'd guess 2 or 3%), some errant item would show up on the record. We didn't automatically turn those applicants away...if we were otherwise interested, we'd give them a copy of the info we had obtained and ask if all looked correct. Most of the time derogatory info was correct of course, but then those 2 to 3%ers would say something and then the issue could be further explored.

I agree with everything the others have said, but I will add this.. Have you done a background check on yourself?

The only reason I say this, is I once had a trainee who's story is unimaginable. Clean record (so they thought), no tickets, accidents, excellent job history, but NO company would give this trainee the time of day and she couldn't figure out why. Finally a company had a little compassion and told her to check her record. What was showing was several DUIs from a state she'd never lived in or even been to. Turns out, she was a victim of identity theft. A relative had stolen her identity to obtain a license in another state under her name and got multiple DUIs. By the time she got it all squared away (8 months later) companies told her she'd been out of CDL school too long and they couldn't hire her.

West Side Transport gave her a chance even though she'd not been in a truck in almost 11 months. She's an excellent driver and doing very well. She's been solo for over 6 months.

So, sure YOU know your background is good, but if you keep getting rejections consider checking your own background. It's just something to think about if it's not just one of those common one time occurrences.