I've Been Diagnosed As Schizoaffective Bipolar 1 And Have Wanted To Be A Truck Driver My Whole Life How Can I Overcome This

Wow Really, I cant belive I'm being called a lier! This is absurd. I didn't lie!!! That is what I was told. If you choose not to belice then that's on you. I'll prove you all wrong. Nothing is going to keep me down. Not even you. I came on here looking for advice, encuragment and support. Instead you call me a lie....Thats re all encuragment you hand out their. This is one of the reasons why the topics of mental health is an issue for anyone wanting to be a driver. People and comments like yours are the problem. To Anne and Tom thanl you for the words of engagement. I really appreciate it. And I have my card for 1 year, was told it could go to a 2 year in time. As for everyone else on hear, some advice for you...when someone says a recruiter from a company said some bad to them, dont assume they are lieing just because you choose not to belive it your self. You weren't their so you didnt get to hear it for yourself. And YES some recrutets are A** Holes to people they dont want to deal with. Thanks for showing me not Truck drivers are as kind as others!!! I'll NEVER FORGET THE WAY YOU JUST MADE ME FEEL! I AM GOING TO USE THIS NEGATIVE ENERGY YOU ATR PUTTING OUT AND TURN IT AROUND AND PROVE YOU WORNG!!!!

I do wish you well in whatever you decide to do but please keep in mind you're planning to be driving a huge vehicle that can cause a lot of damage. All of our families share the roads with you. Be honest with yourself in your assessment of if you can do it or not.

Wow Really, I cant belive I'm being called a lier! This is absurd. I didn't lie!!! That is what I was told. If you choose not to belice then that's on you. I'll prove you all wrong. Nothing is going to keep me down. Not even you. I came on here looking for advice, encuragment and support. Instead you call me a lie....Thats re all encuragment you hand out their. This is one of the reasons why the topics of mental health is an issue for anyone wanting to be a driver. People and comments like yours are the problem.

To Anne and Tom thanl you for the words of engagement. I really appreciate it. And I have my card for 1 year, was told it could go to a 2 year in time. As for everyone else on hear, some advice for you...when someone says a recruiter from a company said some bad to them, dont assume they are lieing just because you choose not to belive it your self. You weren't their so you didnt get to hear it for yourself. And YES some recrutets are A** Holes to people they dont want to deal with. Thanks for showing me not Truck drivers are as kind as others!!! I'll NEVER FORGET THE WAY YOU JUST MADE ME FEEL! I AM GOING TO USE THIS NEGATIVE ENERGY YOU ATR PUTTING OUT AND TURN IT AROUND AND PROVE YOU WORNG!!!!

April, I've been in this industry for 30 years. Many of the folks here have been in this industry for 5 - 10 years or more. We've seen and heard it all. In fact, we know of many far worse things that were said and done out there than what you claim they said to you.

But think about your claim for a minute. You said:

The last recruiter I spoke with laughed at me and said I'm too old and too messed up in the head to be a driver

So this recruiter is getting paid a commission to bring in as many drivers as possible. They're also well-trained in how to attract drivers and how to avoid discrimination lawsuits. In fact, if they won't hire you, they normally won't give a reason at all for fear of a lawsuit. They simply say, "We have better candidates." That's safe.

So this recruiter thinks a 42-year-old is too old to drive, even though you're 7 years younger than the average age and it would invite a discrimination lawsuit? That makes no logical sense. Every class you go to will have several people in their 50s and often one or two in their 60s. No recruiter would say that.

Then, to say you're "too messed in the head" would not only welcome a lawsuit but would certainly draw punishment by the company, if not a firing.

Finally, trucking companies would rather have people who are older because young people are often more difficult to work with, have less driving experience, and take bigger risks. That's why you must be 21 to drive interstate. If they're going to discriminate against anyone for age, it will be aimed at someone who is young. In fact, some companies won't hire anyone under 23 or 25 years old because insurance companies give better discounts with age.

Like I've said, these folks are well-schooled in what to say and what not to say. I'm certain, "You're too old and too messed up in the head to be a driver" was on their forbidden list.

Now I know some companies will not hire you, simply because no one gets a job offer from every company they apply to. Others may get scared away by the prescriptions or prior diagnosis. But I do not believe they said what you claim they said.

Thanks for showing me not Truck drivers are as kind as others!!!

We're exceedingly kind until we feel someone is playing us for fools. We don't take kindly to that.

Did you get this recruiter's name by chance? Their calls are recorded. I would be happy to call a company for you and look into this. We'll get to the bottom of it.

Slander:

1) the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. "He is suing the TV network for slander"

2) make false and damaging statements about (someone). "They were accused of slandering the head of state"

If they wrote it in an email, that is your proof.

So either their recruiter committed a crime by discriminating against you, or you committed one by slandering the company. The proof exists in the recorded message. All we need from you is the name of the recruiter, the name of the company, and the date of the phone call and we'll dig into this for you.

An observation;

Maybe the recruiter said something to the effect the original poster’s medication is an elimination factor for their company, but what she heard was “messed up in the head.”

To the original poster; we only have what you wrote to go on. If you wrote something here, that wasn’t exactly what they said AND WHICH defies logic (based on our knowledge and experience in this business) you diminish your credibility.

It seems the downward spiral, in this thread, began when one person said they don’t believe the original poster. Wouldn’t it be more productive to find out, from the original poster, who the company was and exactly what they said before calling bs?

This site is still a great resource. Don’t give up on it.

April:

I know that some of the responses have hurt your feelings, and I can't say that I blame you, but I still think we can figure out some underlying issues here.

I am curious how the call with the recruiter who laughed at you went. How did the topic of mental health even come up? Did he ask or did you voluntarily offer up your history? If you did that was a mistake in my opinion. You have worked with your ME and they saw fit to qualify you. It is not the recruiters job nor are they qualified to give you a mental health evaluation.

Or is it possible that you got flustered and broke down a little? That is nothing to be ashamed of, we have seen many people come through here who want this so badly that they become their own worst enemy.

Interviews for driving jobs, and to a lesser extent paid training opportunities, are not like most other jobs. For driving jobs, unless you give them a reason to not hire you, there is likely a position available. In contrast to my corporate days where I applied for many jobs where I was one of several hundred people competing for one opening.

Next interview try to be relaxed. Answer their questions honestly but there is no reason to give them your life's story. You are just trying to not give them a reason to say no. It seems like you are carrying around a lot of emotional baggage from past experiences. None of us here can understand what you may be going through but trucking has offered a fresh start for many, many people.

Best of luck to you.

There are plenty of people in every industry who suffer from all kinds of mental illnesses. After reading your original post my best advice would be when your talking to recruiters and potential employers, don’t give more information than necessary. It’s not something that should be discussed in that setting. If you need to list medications and/or what they are used for that is one thing but if you already have your medical card I’m just failing to see why you would be discussing your mental state with a recruiter?

Short and sweet, honest answers but ya know, they don’t need to know your history with mental illness. Your not alone 🤫