When it comes to getting your CDL there are questions that you need to ask yourself before beginning the process of finding a CDL school and training to get your commercial drivers license. Now this article is not going to look at the downside of the trucking industry but factors that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a job after getting your CDL.
Unfortunately I have seen way too many people on various forums taking a hard look at these factors when they have already shelled out thousands of dollars. Be honest with yourself when it comes to these factors
Medical
Now when it comes to medical factors when it comes to getting your CDL there are two factors that you need to look at. The first of course is being able to pass the DOT medical.
The DOT medical is not that difficult to pass however where people tend to run into trouble is with medication. There is a long list of medications that will disqualify you from passing the DOT medical and others that will require a further review in which your doctor will need to sign off on.
What the DOT people are looking for when it comes to medication is that you have been taking it for a while and that you are stable on the medication. Of course they also want to ensure that any medication that you are taking will not affect your ability to drive a commercial vehicle
All of my medicals over the last couple of years have been flagged due to taking medication for a heart condition so they send back additional forms that my doctor had to fill out and then had to be reviewed by their medical board. Thankfully I had testing done that proved that my condition was stable so the process was fairly quick however I have heard of drivers waiting months to hear back from the medical board
Another big issue that tends to come up is diabetes as I know drivers who can no longer drive in the States due to taking insulin through a needle which apparently is a big no no to the DOT. Now to be honest I am not sure if this is due to crossing the border or just a hard line that the DOT has put forward
There is a good majority of drivers that have left this profession not because they chose to retire but that they could no longer pass the medical
Take a look at the DOT Medical Exam and Commercial Motor Vehicle Certification
Drugs
Every single trucking company tests their drivers when they are hired for a variety of drugs. If the driver fails a drug test it is sent to a clearinghouse which keeps track so every company that you attempt to work for will know that you have failed a drug test. This will follow drivers for years.
It should be noted that the hair follicle test is very common meaning traces of your drug usage will stay in your system for much longer than the normal piss test
Of course I live in a country where Marijuana is legal from Coast to Coast however when it comes to the United States only certain States consider this particular drug to be legal. That being said the DOT is Federal which means it remains on the banned list. Until a time when the Federal Government declares weed to be legal every trucking company is obligated to test for it
In Canada drivers are allowed to use marijuana as long as they do not drive in the United States. Every Canadian company will have their own set of rules that determine usage. The ones I have seen is not to use at least twelve hours before getting behind the wheel
If you can not pass a drug test today than you should wait until you are able to do so. The last thing you want is to end up on a Clearinghouse list
Felons
If you have a criminal record finding a job is going to be more difficult. There are companies out there that do hire felons in certain cases such as the crime the person was convicted of
It is important to remember that the monetary value in some trailers could be hundreds of thousands of dollars so the trucking company wants a driver they can trust to not rip off the load
There are companies that will not even look at a resume if the person has been convicted of a crime
Of course the obvious here is that your ability to be able to cross the border is critical for some companies, especially for Canadian companies whose majority of loads are to the United States
Driving History
If your driving history is full of speeding tickets or reckless driving convictions or DUI’s it is going to make finding a job more difficult
Your drivers abstract covers the last seven years of your driving history and a single speeding ticket is not that big of a deal but a pattern of speeding tickets is a major red flag
When it comes to DUI’s or reckless driving and the like that is a different story. Again most companies will toss your resume into the garbage can if they see those type of charges on your drivers abstract. Basically you are going to have to wait til these convictions are off of your record
Before signing up for CDL school take a look at your drivers abstract and if it is not clean realize the journey to getting a commercial drivers job is going to be that much more difficult
Work History
When you send your resume in to a trucking company or speaking to a recruiter they are going to want to know what you spent the last five years doing
It does not really matter what type of job you were doing as what they are looking for is gaps in your work history. This all comes down to how reliable you are in their eyes
If you have a history of bouncing from job to job with gaps in between they are going to think how are you going to handle a 70 hour per week position. Do they really want to spend the money training you if you have a history of job bouncing
The mega trucking companies are infamous for denying applications for this very reason
Family And Relationships
Yes it is possible to get a local job once you get your CDL however the majority of new drivers are going to be finding themselves driving OTR or Over The Road for a couple of years until they are able to get the experience that the majority of trucking companies require
When you are away from home for weeks at a time it will play havoc on your relationships and a ton of them fail
You are going to miss birthday, anniversaries and family gatherings. The time you do get a home will be spent recuperating and getting ready to go back on the road
There are many reasons why most new CDL license holders quit in the first year and this one category probably accounts for half of them
Mental Health
No one likes to talk about mental health in the trucking industry so its pushed under the rug. The reality is that for most drivers, especially Over The Road, spend a lot of time alone. You can go a long time where you do not have a conversation with anyone. A line or two to the cashier at the truck stop or a couple of words to the shipper/receiver or an argument with a dispatcher does not really go a long way to filling up your capacity for social interaction.
The other thing that does not get talked about is when you spend hours and hours on your own your brain likes to bring up every incident, whether positive or negative, and go over it again and again. Trust me if you have demons hiding in your closet they are going to come out and for some this is not a good thing. Truck driving is a stressful job and if you are not mentally fit you are going to end up with the high percentage of new CDL drivers who do not survive their first year,
Money Or Lack Of It
There are some people who believe they are going to graduate from CDL school and get a job that pays great right out of the gate however when they realize that the average wage of a new truck driver is basically minimum wage or less. That mega company may take a chance on a new driver however their pay is at the bottom of the pay scale.
Yes you can make good money in truck driving however in order to get there you will need to survive the first two years before a good trucking company will take a serious look at you.
I should note the only real exception to this is truck companies that specialize in food delivery. Whereas they deliver food to restaurants and similar establishments however the truckers day is spent constantly unloading the truck and most of their drivers do not last for very long just due to the labor involved.
Truck Companies Hiring In Your Area
It amazes me the number of people going for their CDL, passing the test and then finding out that no one in their area is hiring. There is not a shortage of truck drivers and for a lot of areas in the United States and Canada no one is hiring new drivers. The competition for new drivers is getting ridiculous as the market is flooded by people with recent CDL’s. You may live in an area that has a large number of trucking companies but how many of them will actually take on a new driver with zero experience in the trucking industry. Take a good long look at the companies in your area before spending money on a CDL
Well those are the main factors that trucking companies will look at when hiring a new driver. If you have issues relating to any of these factors then you may need to reconsider going after a CDL. Finding a job may not be impossible but you are going to be competing for a job against a entry level driver who is able to show up with no issues present
