Drivers' Corner - Ask the Recruiter

OK, I lost my job because I had an unauthorized person traveling in the truck with me, and I have not found a new job as of yet. I have one year experience to date and have a good driving record, so what’s the problem? Maybe it’s because I’m a woman!

Wow! That is quite the accusation. Without more specifics it is difficult to understand exactly why employers are passing you over, but I find it very hard to believe that it is because of your gender. Are there other “red flags” such as job history, references, safety concerns, driving history, or other issues that may cause a potential employer to pass over your application? Or are they simply passing it over because of a proven inability to follow fairly standard policies?

I’m not real clear, either, as to why it is difficult to understand how another carrier might be unwilling to hire anyone based on the fact that a simple policy cannot be followed. There are insurance reasons, safety reasons, and liability reasons why passengers must be authorized and approved. To simply ignore these is irresponsible, at best. The fact that you barely have 1-year of experience and already chose to violate a policy of this nature is less than appealing to most carriers.

I am personally familiar with a number of carriers that would love to add more female drivers to their fleet, so any suggestion that discrimination is playing a role may be unfounded. Sometimes, as difficult as it is to hear, personal responsibility should be re-examined.

I am a female with a CDL. Why do companies have a problem with 2 speeding tickets? One is 14 miles per hour over the speed limit and the other one is 10 miles per hour over. Most of them aren’t worried about the 10 mile ticket, but the other one is keeping from getting a job. Sometimes I think it is because I am a female looking for solo driving.

Your two speeding tickets suggest a pattern of driving excessively fast. You are correct that anything over 10 mph is a major red flag for carriers. As a professional driver I am sure you understand the need to maintain a clean and safe driving history. Speeding tickets of this nature suggest that you were not just accidentally speeding but were intentionally driving excessively fast.

Another determining factor in how carriers look at these tickets is the time frame in which they were received. My assumption is that they were both within the last three years, thereby suggesting a pattern.

Other factors that go into the hiring process include accidents, references from former employers, employment history (“job hopping”), and more.

As stated above: I am personally familiar with a number of carriers that would love to add more female drivers to their fleet, so any suggestion that discrimination is playing a role may be unfounded. Sometimes, as difficult as it is to hear, personal responsibility should be re-examined.

I was fired from a major carrier due to 3 incidents which were very small and caused no damage to the equipment. I just had to be towed out twice and I bent the trailer rim making a right turn. I was wondering if that would go on my DAC report and stop me for being hired by another company.

To be honest, it does sound as if you are going to face difficulties in finding a quality truck driving job. Regardless of your estimation that the incidents are “very small,” the fact is that you had three incidents. The fact that you were towed twice likely suggests that the incidents were not as small as you might think they were.

Every incident costs the carrier money. This cost is associated with repairs and insurance premiums. When another carrier hires a driver with multiple incidents, their overall insurance premiums could be impacted. Some insurance companies even set the standards by which carriers can hire.

Not knowing the time frame of the incidents or other information about your driving history makes it difficult to say but, yes, you are in for a challenging road ahead when seeking employment with a major carrier. Perhaps a small independent owner operator operation would be your best bet to rebuild your career.